31  SO  7 

Bancroft  Library 


LETTER  J. 


Canon  City — Journey  Across  Iowa  and  Kansas. 

.S  _ 

v^ 

\.  CANON  CITY,  Colorado,  December  16,  1879. 

Three  weeks  to-morrow  marks  the  time  since,  with  my  wife  and 

little  grandson  (a  lad  six  years  old),  I  left  our  good  city  on  a  tramp 

to  the  Pacific  Coast  with  no  other  object — save  some  considerations 

of  health  for  the  little  boy — than   to  mark  with  one's  own  eyes, 

the  marvelous  strides  which  our  republican  civilization  has  made 

<*-    between  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan  and  the  coast  of  the  Pacific 

^  Ocean  and   the  fortieth  and  forty-fifth  degree  of  north  latitude, 

within  that  period  of  time  when  in  my  young  manhood  I  became 

a  citizen  of  the  then  little  village  of  Milwaukee  ngw  so  grand,  so 

K  strong,  and  beautiful  a  city.      Our  first  stop  was  made  at  Delavan, 

'    where  we  took  our  thanksgiving  dinner  with  the  large  family  of  one 

hundred  and   fifty  mute  children — and  a  happier  family  you  will 

^^^ 

'  seldom  find.       In  passing,  I  am  happy  to  say  that  the  improvised 

buildings  made  by  the  trustees  of  this  Institution  since  the  great 
calamity  of  the  fire,  were  so  far  in  use  as  to  promise  safety  and 
comfort  to  the  large  number  of  inmates,  and  afford  almost  undi- 
minished  facilities  for  the  prosecution  of  the  great  purposes  for. 
which  the  institution  was  founded,  to-wit :  the  education  of  this 
unfortunate  but  deeply  interesting  class  of  children  of  the  State, 
who  cannot  be  educated  in  the  public  schools. 

On  our  first  night  from  home  we  enjoy  the  hospitalities  of  a 
friend  at  the  royal  little  city  of  Beloit  in  our  own  State,  where 
industry,  peace,  plenty,  virtue  and  knowledge  are  enthroned  in  her 
valleys  and  upon  her  hilltops.  Our  next  stop  is  at  the  thriving  city 
of  Dubuque,  with  which  we  ought  long  since  to  have  been  in  direct 


4  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

railroad  connection  by  the  extension  of  the  Monroe  Road.  Being 
so  near  the  home  of  our  eminent  fellow-citizen,  U.  S.  G.,  at 
Galena,  while  my  better-half  was  consuming  time  among  her 
friends,  what  could  I  do  better  than  run  over  and  see  friend 
Ulysses  ?  So  we  took  a  run  thither,  and,  having  a  pleasant  chat 
with  Sister  Grant  at  their  pleasant  home,  perched  upon  an  emi- 
nence on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  we  left  the  company  of  this 
cordial,  frank,  and  I  should  say  accomplished  lady,  and  took  after 
Ulysses,  who  had  gone  down  into  the  city  to  smoke  his  cigar  with 
his  old  chums  on  the  street.  Mrs.  Grant  gave  me  the  name  of 
General  Rowley,  at  whose  office  I  would  be  likely  to  meet  her 
husband.  General  Rowley  informed  me  that  he  himself  was  the 
only  living  member  of  Grant's  staff  during  the  war,  and  that  he 
had  come  home  not  long  before  the  close  of  the  war  not  expect- 
ing to  live.  General  Rowley  was  polite  enough  to  go  on  to  the 
street  and  find  his  illustrious  chief  and  bring  him  in,  and  for  two 
hours  we  three  sat  and  conversed  without  interruption  in  General 
Rowley's  office.  Much  of  this  conversation  ran  upon  the  govern- 
ments, countries,  and  peoples,  whom  the  ex-President  had  visited 
in  his  late  circuit  of  the  earth.  He  particularly  took  up  the 
Turkish  Government,  and  went  over  with  great  perspicuity  its 
internal  systems  of  military  and  civil  affairs.  He  showed  himself 
entirely  conversant  with  its  abominable  system  of  taxation,  and 
declared  that  the  Government  itself  ought  not  to  exist,  and  that 
the  great  Christian  Powers,  instead  of  sitting  in  deliberation  of 
plans  for  its  continuance,  should  have  rather  debated  measures  for 
its  annihilation,  subdivision  and  distribution — making  Constan- 
tinople a  free  city.  That  he  has  been  a  sharp,  close  student  of 
the  condition  and  state  of  the  nations  that  he  has  visited  was  man- 
ifest from  this  conversation.  I  have  on  two  former  occasions  come 
into  personal  conversation  with  and  observation  of  Gen.  Grant, 
and  have  each  time  been  impressed  with  his  directness,  simplicity 
and  candor,  and  never  more  so  than  on  this  occasion.  Not  one 
of  my  neighbors,  or  intimate  friends,  would  have  entered  into 
conversation  of  the  protracted  character  of  this,  with  less  sense  of 
personal  consequence,  than  marked  the  manners  of  this  distin- 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  5 

guished  man  on  this  occasion.  He  seems  in  superb  health  and 
freshness.  He  said  he  would  come  to  Milwaukee  in  June.  In 
speaking  of  the  Presidency  he  said,  "Take  any  good  man  but 
me." 

I  am  persuaded  his  true  position  is  this:  "If  my  countrymen 
call  rne  to  national  service,  I  will  serve  them ;  if  not,  it  is  just  as 
well."  Now  if,  as  has  of  late  been  given  out,  the  South  will  unite 
upon  this  man  better  than  any  other,  and,  as  his  past  record  makes 
him  safe  on  the  finance  question,  then  let  us  lay  aside  our  prefer- 
ences and  unite  on  him  again,  that  a  united  people  and  prosperous 
land  may  be  its  outcome. 

We  pause  next  at  Moline,  and  enjoy  the  hospitality  of  one  of 
our  late  Mexican  fellow-travelers,  at  the  elegant  mansion  of  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Charles  Deer.  John  Deer,  the  father  of  Charles, 
came  from  Vermont,  and  settled  at  an  early  day  at  Grand  de 
Tour,  on  the  Rock  River,  as  a  blacksmith,  and  made  plows  by 
hand,  using  cast-off  mill-saws  for  the  mould  board  of  the  huge 
breaking  plows  of  the  prairie.  He  gained  a  local  fame  in  this 
direction,  and  his  business  became  too  great  for  the  ordinary  shop 
and  he  removed  to  Moline,  and  started  his  plow  factory  on  a  large 
scale  upon  the  water-power  there.  It  has  grown  into  an  immense 
establishment — making  over  one  hundred  thousand  plows  per 
annum  and  employing  five  hundred  men.  Never  have  I  been 
through  an  establishment  where  order,  steady  industry  and  marked 
intelligence  was  more  manifest  than  here,  a  place  for  everything 
and  everything  in  its  place.  The  father  is  now  aged,  a  noble 
Christian  man,  and,  although  seventy-five  years  old,  active  and 
useful  in  all  good  works.  His  son  inherits  all  his  father's  parts  and 
is  a  grand  conductor  of  a  great  and  useful  industry. 

What  a  ride  is  that  from  Davenport  to  Kansas  City  !  It  is  done 
from  daylight  till  a  little  after  dark.  But  what  a  magnificent 
country  !  What  a  great  number  of  fine  houses  and  barns,  villages 
and  cities,  churches  and  school-houses,  are  seen  in  Iowa  !  What 
great  golden  cribs  of  corn  ;  what  droves  of  hogs,  cattle,  sheep  and 
horses  ;  yea  !  what  a  land  of  plenty  and  abundance.  Its  people 
should  be  thankful  and  happy.  Yes,  indeed,  there,  ought  to  be  a 


6  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

public   thanksgiving  day  as  often  as  once  in  three  months  instead 
of  once  a  year. 

Kansas  moves  on  to  greatness.  The  Free-State  seed  sown  upon 
her  soil  iri  1851  brings  forth  glorious  fruit.  Her  prosperous  and 
beautiful  cities  and  towns,  her  schools  and  churches,  her  sweet 
homes,  the  intelligence  and  culture  of  her  citizens  attest  her  high 
character  and  consequence  in  the  scale  of  civilization.  In  popula- 
tion she  is  talking  about  a  million,  for  her  count  in  the  coming 
census.  At  her  elections  next  fall  she  will  vote  upon  an  amend- 
ment to  her  constitution,  by  which  the  manufacture  and  sale  of 
intoxicating  drinks  are  to  be  prohibited  throughout  the  State. 
From  the  speeches  of  people  upon  all  hands,  this  amendment  to 
the  .constitution  is  to  be  carried  affirmatively.  What  a  crown  of 
glory  will  this  be  to  a  State  !  Thousands  of  the  best  people  of  all 
lands  will  flock  to  her  borders  to  find  deliverance  from  the  curse 
and  crime  of  intemperance.  But  what  is  more,  think  of  the  secur- 
ity which  her  own  sons  and  daughters  will  find  in  the  bulwark  of 
defense  set  up  in  this  constitutional  provision. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Governor  St.  John.  He  is  a 
gentleman  of  the  size  and  general  appearance  of  our  Gov.  Smith. 
He  commands  the  confidence  of  his  people  much  as  even  Gov. 
Smith  does  ours.  In  conversing  with  him,  upon  the  exodus  of  the 
colored  people,  he  remarked  that  those  who  had  come  to  Kansas, 
as  a  whole,  were  getting  a  living,  and  that  the  transfer  of  the 
freedmen  at  the  South  to  the  North  had  but  just  begun,  that  their 
knowledge  of  their  rights  and  opportunities  in  this  direction  was 
universal  throughout  all  their  circles  in  the  South. 

The  prospects  of  Kansas  seem  to  be  of  the  most  flattering  kind 
at  the  present  time.  Our  journey  through  her  length,  via  the 
Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railroad,  was  superb  ;  good  cars, 
good  track,  good  eating-houses  and  polite  conductors. 

I  have  come  to  this  place  to  view  this  wonder  of  nature,  the 
Grand  Canon  of  Arkansas.  But  a  dense  fog  had  settled  in  and 
upon  the  mountains,  and  so  I  must  keep  house,  and  thus  it  is  that 
you  get  this  letter.  Before  leaving  Colorado  I  may  say  something 
of  it,  E.  D,  H, 


LETTER  II. 


Through   Colorado  and  New   Mexico — Old  Friends  Found  in  the 
Far   West —  The  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas. 


TRINIDAD,  Col.,  December  19,  1879. 

I  did  not  intend  when  I  left  home  to  be  lingering  so  long  as  I 
am  likely  to  be  upon  this  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  But 
once  here,  one  may  as  well  make  what  observations  he  wishes, 
and  be  done  with  it.  I  am  on  my  way  to  Santa  Fe,  and  am 
detained  in  this  semi-Mexican  town  of  2,500  inhabitants  for  the 
train  leaving  in  the  evening.  Our  railroad  school  in  Wisconsin, 
with  Brodhead,  Spencer  and  Merrill  as  principals,  has  turned  out 
some  pretty  good  scholars.  Such  proves  to  be  Wm.  S.  Strong, 
who,  when  I  first  knew  him,  was  station  agent  at  Janesville.  He 
is  now  the  Vice-President  and  Manager  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka 
&  Santa  Fe  Railway  Company,  which,  with  its  branches,  has  now 
nigh  upon  one  thousand  miles  of  road  running,  and  is  pushing  on 
into  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  and  thence  to  the  Pacific  at  San 
Diego  or  some  other  point.  Starting  from  Kansas  City  (as  well  as 
at  Atchison)  it  passes  southwesterly  for  two  hundred  miles  until  it 
reaches  the  Arkansas  River,  when  it  runs  along  the  valley  of  that 
river  almost  due  west  upon  the  thirty-eighth  degree  of  latitude 
until  it  reaches  Pueblo,  just  ih  front  of  the  mountains,  a  distance 
from  the  Missouri  River  of  more  than  six  hundred  miles.  At  this 
point  it  strikes  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Road,  which  runs  at 
right  angles  with  it.  It  starts  at  Kansas  City  with  an  elevation  of 
600  feet  and  lands  at  Pueblo,  with  4, 700  feet.  We  knew  gener- 
ally that  there  was  a  gradual  ascent  up  these  Western  plains,  and 
had  supposed  that  this  fact  would  dissipate  much  of  the  grandeur 


8  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Bnt  not  so.  The  mountains  rise  from 
the  plain  in  great  glory  and  beauty.  Pike's  Peak,  the  king  of  the 
range,  is  seen  lifting  his  white  head  high  above  his  fellows  for  a 
wide  distance  around.  The  Rocky  Mountains  run  nearly  north 
and  south.  I  have  now  gone  along  their  east  front  for  over  a 
hundred  miles  along  the  edge  of  the  plain,  and  just  in  front  of 
the  mountains.  Many  of  these  rise  3,000,  4,000,  5,000,  6,000, 
and  Pike's  Peak  10,000  feet  from  the  plain,  and  are  singularly  pic- 
turesque and  beautiful ;  especially  when  seen  under  the  light  of 
the  morning  sun.  The  range  is  continuous  and  interlocked. 

The  Denver  &  Pacific  Road,  leaving  the  Union  Pacific  at  Chey- 
enne, runs  due  south  along  the  front  of  the  mountains  to  Denver, 
where  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  takes  up  the  line,  and  continues 
due  south  to  this  place.  From  this  point  (which  is  ten  or  twelve 
miles  north  of  the  New  Mexican  line)  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande 
blends  with  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Road  in  its  south, 
ward  course,  which  it  continues  for  nearly  two  hundred  miles,  when 
it  turns  west  into  New  Mexico.  Thus  the  main  trunk  of  the  Santa 
Fe  Road,  from  Kansas  City  to  Pueblo,  a  distance  of  600  miles, 
runs  over  a  level  country  and  is  met  by  lines  of  road  running  for 
500  miles  from  north  to  south  at  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
making  the  figure  of  a  well  proportioned  letter  T. 

Four  or  five  spurs  from  the  top  of  the  letter  T — or,  from  this 
north  and  south  road,  have  penetrated  the  mountains,  a  distance 
each  of  from  twenty  to  fifty  miles.  Conspicuously  among  these  is 
that  one  which  runs  from-  Pueblo  to  Canon  City,  and  thence 
through  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas  a  distance  of  some 
seventy  miles  in  the  direction  of  wonderful  Leadville.  From  this 
glance  at  the  railroad  system  of  Kansas  and  Colorado,  reaching  in 
all  more  than  a  thousand  miles,  of  .which  the  Atchison,  Topeka  & 
Santa  Fe  corporation  constitute  the  head  and  front,  your  readers 
will  gather  some  idea  of  the  marvelous  progress  which  seven  or 
eight  short  years  have  wrought  in  this  direction. 

Col.  Ellsworth,  Receiver  of  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  Railroad, 
with  the  consent  of  the  Santa  Fe  Company  (for  there  is  a  great 
quarrel  between  these  two  companies),  was  kind  enough  to  send  a 


From  Midland  ts  the  Pacific.  9 

special  train  to  take  us  up  through  the  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkan- 
sas. I  have  seen  in  my  life  time  a  good  deal  of  mountain  scenery, 
but  never  anything  quite  so  grand  and  awful  as  this.  For  some 
eight  miles  perpendicular  precipices  rise  from  1,500  to  2,500  feet 
on  either  side,  from  a  narrow  gorge,  through  which  the  Arkansas 
River  rushes  and  dashes  with  great  violence.  Into  this  cavern,  in 
some  '  spots,  the  sun  never  shines,  and  the  road  is  cut  along  the 
cliff  and  hangs  upon  its  side.  You  think,  as  you  pass  on,  the  very 
mountains,  in"  all  their  terribleness,  are  to  shut  in  and  crush  you. 
It  is  quite  beyond  my  powers  to  describe  this  display  of  the 
Creator's  mighty  works.  You  must  send  out  some  of  your  poetic 
and  deft  pencil  shovers  to  secure  to  your  readers  any  fair  idea  of 
this  wonder  of  the  world. 

This  quarrel  between  the  Denver,  Rio  Grande  and  Santa  Fe  is 
now  in  the  Courts,  and  it  is  expected  will  be  settled  in  a  short 
period — when,  whichever  party  is  put  in  possession,  the  road  to 
Leadville,  via  this  Grand  Canon  of  the  Arkansas,  a  distance  from 
Pueblo  of  1 66  miles,  will  be  speedily  completed. 

Thirty  thousand  inhabitants  at  Leadville,  which  stands  10,200 
feet  up  in  the  mountains,  and  whose  existence  dates  no  more  than 
three  years  back  !  Think  of  that. 

To-night  1  will  go  down  on  the  Santa  Fe  Road  to  a  place  called 
Los  Vegas,  and  then  take  stage  to  Santa  Fe,  reaching  there  to- 
morrow evening.  E.  D.  H. 


Los  VEGAS,  December  20,  1880. 

I  dropped  you  a  hasty  line  yesterday  from  Trinidad,  the  last 
town  of  any  consequence  in  Colorado  before  entering  New  Mexico. 
Trinidad  is  a  busy  town  of  2,000  inhabitants,  with  an  exceHent 
hotel  kept  by  a  Connecticut  man.  It  has  a  Presbyterian  church, 
and  the  town  is  supplied  with  water  works  and  gas.  A  small  stream 
runs  through  the  town  with  power  for  turning  a  grist  mill.  In 
doing  a  little  shopping  I  looked  into  many  stores  of  very  consider- 


io  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

able  stocks  of  goods.  Among  these  merchants  were  Messrs. 
Forbes  &  Bridge,  from  Berlin,  Wis.  Here  we  found  numerous 
Mexicans.  Trinidad  is  the  home  of  many  wealthy  ranchmen 
whose  cattle  by  thousands  range  upon  the  wide-spreading  and 
desolate  plains  around.  Hence  a  good  deal  of  trade  with  this 
class  of  consumers.  Mr.  Forbes  told  me  his  trade  was  good,  and 
that  it  was  not  an  unfrequent  occurrence  to  sell  one  of  these 
ranchmen  a  bill  of  $1,000  cash  down  for  his  outfit. 

Leaving  Trinidad  we  rode  all  night  to  reach  this  place,  a  dist- 
ance of  150  miles,  arriving  at  5  a.m.,  we  remain  for  the  con- 
struction train  that  leaves  at  1:30  p.  m.,  and  reaching  a  point 
twenty-five  miles  from  Santa  Fe,  stages  are  in  readiness  and 
passengers  reach  the  latter  place  at  io  p.  m. 

This  place  of  Los  Vegas  claims  7,000  people.  '  The  streets 
are  full  of  Mexican  ox  teams.  I  noticed  two,  with  three  yoke 
of  cattle  on  each  wagon,  heavily  laden  with  wool.  We  have 
left  the  cattle  ranches  of  the  north  and  here  find  the  country  grazed 
largely  by  sheep,  so  that  wool  is  gathered  at  this  point  in  large 
quantities.  There  are  two  parts,  or  sides  to  this  town,  divided  by 
a  small  stream  called  in  English  "Chicken  Creek,"  and  which  is 
a  tributary  of  the  Rio  Grande.  The  east  side  is  the  new  Yankee 
town,  and  the  west  is  the  old  Spanish  town.  The  former  is  built 
of  new  fresh  wood  or  brick,  while  the  other  is  made  of  stone  and 
adobe.  The  old  part  of  the  town  looked  the  strongest  and  best. 
Passing  one  good-looking  store  which  displayed  the  name  of  L. 
Blanchard,  in  the  old  town,  I  said  "he  is  a  Yankee  sure,  though  he 
is  here  among  the  Spanish."  On  entering  and  inquiring  for  the 
proprietor,  he  was  found  sitting  in  his  well-furnished  parlor  in  the 
rear  of  his  store,  a  dark-complexioned,  fine-looking  man,  and 
instead  of  being  a  Yankee  from  Massachusetts,  he  proved  to  be  a 
Montreal  Frenchman,  who  had  lived  in  New  Mexico  seventeen 
years,  having  driven  an  ox  team  from  Kansas  City  over  the  plains 
a  distance  of  more  than  800  miles.  He  is  now  a  wealthy  and  highly 
respected  citizen  of  this  place. 

My  landlord  is  a  Mr.  Jewett,  and  claims  to  be  distantly  con- 
nected with  Professor  Jewett,  of  Milwaukee.  He  has  a  new  hotel 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  1 1 

with  forty  rooms,  costing  him  $11,000.  He  too  has  been  in  Col- 
orado and  New  Mexico  seventeen  years.  He  and  the  Yankee  set 
want  the  tide  of  emigration  to  pour  in.  Blanchard  and  the  Mexi- 
can school  want  no  new  comers — they  want  things  left  as  they  are. 

The  day  is  pleasant  and  bright,  but  the  wind  blows  and  the  dust 
flies  in  clouds,  and  penetrates  every  crevice.  As  one  man  said,  the 
dust  will  blow  through  a  tin  canister.  Give  me  snow,  rain  and 
mud  rather  than  this  wind  and  dust. 

The  man  who  drove  me  yesterday  from  El  Moro  to  Trinidad,  a 
distance  of  five  miles,  was  a  Mr.  Cutler,  formerly  resident  at 
Whitewater.  The  man  who  runs  stages  from  where  I  will  get  off 
the  railroad  into  Santa  Fe  is  a  Mr.  Parker,  formerly  a  conductor 
upon  the  old  Prairie  du  Chien  road  ;  so  you  see  Wisconsin  men 
take  a  hand  in  the  occupation  of  this  new  strange  land. 

E.  D.   H. 


LETTED  111. 


Life  in  Colorado —  The   Chances  for  Fortunes  in  the  Mines — Mining 
and  Farming — Old  Milwaukee  Settlers. 


CHEYENNE,  Wyoming  Terr.,  Jan.  i,  1880. 

We  arrived  here  an  hour  ago — having  had  a  delightful  ride  this 
bright  New  Year's  morning  from  Golden  in  Colorado,  a  distance 
of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles.  On  our  right  the  desert 
plains  stretched  out  like  the  billowy  ocean  to  the  East.  Upon  our 
left  the  snow-clad  mountains  stood  in  august  array  to  the  West. 
Monarch  among  them  all  was  Long's  Peak,  14,271  feet  above  the 
sea»  There  is  no  snow  upon  the  plains  and  little  upon  the  lower 
mountains.  We  are  now  back  upon  our  line  of  travel  to  the 
Pacific  after  a  much  longer  wandering  over  the  plains  ami  among 
the  mountains  than  we  originally  contemplated.  It  had  been  my 
intention  to  have  offered  you  a  sketch  or  two  before  this,  but  the 
journey  was  so  pressing,  and  having  to  contend  with  a  bad  cold  for 
the  last  ten  days  the  attempt  was  postponed,  and  as  we  lay  over 
until  to-morrow  if  any  thing  is  said  it  must  be  now  or  not  at  all. 
From  here  to  Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  is  five  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  almost  due  south.  A  railroad  runs  from  here  to  within 
twenty-five  miles  of  that  place,  and  the  connection  will  be  made 
by  February  i,  next.  Just  you  and  your  readers  stop  and  think  of 
that  for  a  moment  !  Five  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  railroad 
sweeping  from  the  apex  of  the  great  plain  land  of  the  continent 
along  the  front  of  the  magnificent  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
which  rise  with  abruptness  and  grandeur  from  the  plain  for  nearly 
the  entire  distance.  The  State  of  Colorado  embraces  seven  degrees 
of  longitude,  to-wit :  from  the  one  hundred  and  second  to  the 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  1 3 

one  hundredth  and  ninth — and  four  degrees  of  latitude,  to-wit  : 
from  the  thirty-seventh  to  the  forty-first — a  very  symmetrical 
boundary,  and  making  her  one  of  the  largest  States  in  the  Union. 
If  my  recollection  serves  me,  Wisconsin  has  57,000  square  miles 
of  territory.  This  area  will  give  Colorado  over  100,000  square 
miles.  Now  this  railroad  I  have- named  runs  but  little  east  of  the 
center  of  the  State,  leaving  the  east  half  of  her  territory  composed 
of  desert  plains  and  her  west  half  of  rugged  mountains. 

The  principal  towns  and  cities  of  Colorado  are  situated  upon 
this  railroad.  They  are,  beginning  at  the  south,  Trinidad,  a 
bright,  smart  place  of  4,000  people ;  Pueblo,  with  6,000  and 
large  expectation,  but  too  much  beer  and  whisky  ;  Colorado 
Springs,  6,000,  beautiful  for  situation,  not  a  drinking  saloon  in 
her  midst,  schools,  churches,  newspapers,  and  a  refined  popula- 
tion. Denver,  the  beautiful,  30,000,  the  seat  of  wealth  and  ele- 
gance. No  city  in  the  land  of  her  size  will  surpass  her  in  those 
particulars.  There  are  many  other  minor  places,  saying  nothing  of 
Leadville,  the  wonderful,  with  30,000  inhabitants.  But  in  these 
cities  of  the  plain  are  met  the  representatives  of  the  two  great  in- 
terests of  this  great  State,  viz.,  ranching  and  mining.  To  the 
consideration  of  these  two  questions  will  the  traveler  in  Colorado 
have  his  attention  continually  drawn.  One  is  meeting  with  in- 
tensely interesting  characters  in  this  wild  exciting  Colorado  life. 
In  my  journey  to  Santa  Fe  I  was  riding  in  a  caboose  car,  with  the 
construction  train,  crowded  with  the  roughest  of  men  together 
with  a  less  number  of  well-dressed  persons.  Next  me  sat  a  tall 
well-made  man  in  his  prime.  He  was  dressed  in  the  roughest 
manner.  I  had  noticed  him  take  off  and  lay  at  his  feet  his  belt 
containing  a  sheath  knife  'and  large  revolver.  We  were  sitting  on 
benches  running  lengthwise  and  much  crowded,  and  consequently 
must  maintain  friendly  relations.  I  noticed  a  bloody  wound  on  the 
back  of  this  man's  hand  and  said  to  him:  "  Sir,  I  notice  you 
have  hurt  your  hand,  and  if  you  will  remove  the  blood  I  will  cover 
it  with  a  plaster  which  will  give  you  relief."  His  courteous  and 
polite  answer  struck  me.  This  little  act,  not  only  afforded  an  in- 
troduction but  our  acquaintance  grew  apace.  The  outcome  of  it 


14  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

was  that  I  found  him  a  ranchman.     He  had  been  thirteen  years  on 
the  plains,  engaged  in    this  business  and  had  met  with  reasonable 
success,  had  come  from  Illinois  and  was  a  graduate  of  Beloit  College, 
and  now,  having   learned  the  fact,  I  had  come  to  the  secret  of  the 
cultured  and  refined  speech  of  this  coarsely  clad  and  rough  exter- 
iored    man.       He    had    gone    from    college    to    the    plains;     had 
encountered  all   the   perils,   discomforts  and  hardships  incident  to 
this  calling.     What  has  he  gained  ?     A  few  thousand  dollars  and 
coarse  bread   for   food   and   the  ground   to   sleep   on   at  night  or 
perhaps   a  dug-out  or   an   adobe   hut.     No  wife,   no  children,  no 
home.     He  was  hearty  in   health  and  cheery  in  spirit  to  be  sure, 
but   to  my  comprehension,  this  man,  with  his  outfit  in  education 
and  manly  strength,  could  have  done  better.     I  have  fallen  in  with 
and   have  had  long  interviews   with  a  good  many  of  this  class  of 
persons.     It  is  but  fair  to  say  that  the  majority  seem  to  have  met 
with   pecuniary  success  in  this  calling.     A  man  possessed  with  two 
thousand   head   of  cattle   takes  up  small  pieces  of  land  along  the 
water  courses  (which  are  very  few,  small  and  far  between)  and  then 
claims  all  the  surrounding  country.     One  of  these  ranchmen  told 
me  he  wanted  fifteen   miles  square  to  run  his  herd  of  2,000  head 
upon  ,    another  in   New   Mexico  said  for  such  a  herd  he  occupied 
eighteen   miles  square.     It  is  likely  that  no  such  quantity  of  land 
may  be  absolutely  needed  for  the  maintenance  of  this  number  of 
animals,   still,   say   what   they  may,  it  is  a  barren  land   and   wide 
districts  of  it  are  necessary  to  provide  for  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  animals.     Water  is  so  scarce  that  it  is  probable  that  the 
owners  of  the  watering  places  will  for  a  long  time  possess  the  wide 
pasturage  around  without  interference,  and  without  any  title  other 
than  a  sort  of  possessory  one.     But  what  a  life  !     A  few.  cow-boys, 
as  they  are  called,  upon  their  ponies  follow  these  herds.     By  the 
stream,  or  at  the  watering  place,   there  is  a  hovel  and  corrall,  and 
yarding  facilities  of  the  rudest  kind.     One  ranchman  told  me  that 
his  nearest  neighbor  was  seven  miles  away.      Of  course  where  this 
system  prevails  the  local  church  and  school  are  out  of  the  question 
and   as  a    consequence  a  low  order  of  civilization   must  obtain. 
The  graduate  of  Beloit  College  for  a  time  may  do  something  to 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  \  5 

counteract  this  tendency,  but  in  time  it  will  carry  him  downward. 
True  the  prosperous  and  wealthy  ranchman  will  bring  his  family 
to  the  "  town  "  and  live  there,  and  so  it  comes  to  pass  that 
a  v^ry  considerable  portion  of  the  population  of  the  villages  and 
cities  is  made  up  of  the  "  lords  of  the  manor  "  and  their  families, 
but  what  of  the  cowherds  and  their  wives  and  children  out  in  the 
wilderness  in  their  desolate  huts,  with  nothing  to  ennoble  or  lift 
up  around  them  ?  I  can  advise  no  Wisconsin  man  to  leave  our  fer- 
tile fields  with  all  their  commercial  advantages  to  exchange  them 
for  the  ranch  life  of  these  desolate  plains. 

In  all  this  length  of  mountain  range  (by  which,  and  into  which, 
my  journey  has  taken  me)  it  has  been,  ever  since  the  great  Pike's 
Peak  excitement  (when  thousands  upon  thousands  flocked  over 
these  plains)  as  if  great  flaming  trumpeters  had  stood  upon  their 
tops  with  golden  and  silver  trumpets,  and  lifting  them  high  so  that 
their  voice  would  penetrate  to  all  lands,  proclaiming  "  Come  ! 
Come  !  Come  !  — for  lo  !  upon  every  mountain  top  and  along 
every  valley,  and  in  every  dashing  river,  behold  the  precious 
metals,  which,  when  once  possessed,  every  man  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth  will  give  of  his  industry  in  exchange  ;  ho  !  come  ! 
come  !  come  !  And  straightway  men  from  all  lands  have  left 
anvil,  plow,  jack-plane,  briefs,  pills,  yard-sticks,  and  even  pulpits, 
and  pressing  over  sea  and  land  have  entered  these  mountains,  to 
smite  them,  and  bore  them,  and  cleave  them  on  every  hand  that 
these  "  hid  treasures"  should  come  forth. 

Oh  !  what  mavels  of  muscle,  of  nerve,  of  fortitude,  of  endur- 
ance, of  patience,  of  intellect  has  been,  and  is  being  put  forth  in 
this  great  mountain  labratory. 

It  is  this  grand  army  of  gold  and  silver  hunters  thronging  this 
stronghold  of  what  men  think  is  of  most  material  value,  viz :  the 
precious  metals,  that  has  authorized  the  construction  of  this  sys- 
tem of  railroads  out  to  these  mountains,  and  up  and  down  before 
them,  and  into  them. 

The  agricultural  interests  are] spoken  of  by  the  citizen  as  of 
consequence.  But  they  seem  to  me  small  by  the  side  of  this  vast 
interest.  But  is  it  true,  what  these  trumpeters  on  the  mountain 


1 6  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

tops  with  their  flaming  trumpets  proclaim?  Ah  !  there's  the  rub. 
Is  it  true?  As  I  walked  up  and  down  the  platform  at  Pueblo, 
there  stood  a  man  by  his  dog  and  gun,  very  coarsely  dressed,  and 
grimy  and  soiled.  Supposing  him  to  be  a  miner,  I  asked  hyai  if 
he  was.  He  answered  in  the  affirmative. 

"  How  long  have  you  been  at  work  in  the  mines?  " 

11  Myself  and  two  sons  have  been  at  work  for  three  years." 

"And  have  you  met  with  any  success?  " 

"I  have  just  received  my  first  money." 

"  How  much  pray?  " 

"Four  hundred  dollars."  * 

"Then  you  have  at  last  found  mineral,  and  this  is  a  product  of 
an  actual  sale  ?  ' ' 

"Yes,  sir;  and  I  am  now  offered  ten  thousand  dollars  for  a 
third  interest  in  my  mine." 

This  man,  then,  who  was  but  a  plain  man,  and  who  with  his 
boys  was  supported  by  his  wife's  keeping  boarders  while  father  and 
sons  toiled  in  the  mountains,  were  at  length  abundantly  rewarded. 

Again.  I  was  riding  from  Pueblo  to  Canon  City  Across  the 
aisle  sat  a  man  below  middle  life,  strong  and  sturdy.  He  too  was 
coarsely  clothed  and  grimy  with  toil.  With  him  I  entered  into 
conversation.  He  told  me  that  he  came  from  England  with  his 
father,  who  was  a  mining  engineer,  twenty  years  ago — that  for  all 
that  long  time  he  had  toile4  and  labored  in  search  of  treasure,  and 
had  hardly  obtained  enough  for  his  daily  bread.  Indeed  he  had 
just  now  been  obliged  to  send  his  wife  and  child  to  her  friends  in 
Kansas,  as  his  means  were  too  scanty  for  their  comfort  in  the 
mountains.  He  in  turn  asked  me  where  I  lived  and  what  sor*t  of  a 
country  Wisconsin  was.  And  when  I  told  him  it  was  a  fertile  land 
where  every  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  made  a  beautiful  home, 
and  that  one  home  succeeded  another  for  whole  towns  and  counties 
throughout  the  State,  and  that  the  outcome  of  such  homes  was  good 
highways,  schools,  churches,  villages — good  laws,  and  the  highest 
social,  intellectual  and  religious  condition,  the  man  was  deeply 
affected  at  the  picture,  and  said  that  he  had  often  told  his  wife 


From  Midland  t»  the  Pacific.  1 7 

that  if  fortune  ever  gave  them  favor  they  would  flee  to  a  paradise 
like  this. 

You  are  told  at  Denver  that  it  is  but  three  years  since  Lieut. 
Gov%  Tabor,  of  Colorado,  was  but  a  small  merchant  at  some 
mountain  camp  in  the  mountains — that  he  made  investment  in 
mining  stocks  and  that  now  he  is  worth  five  millions.  See  how 
these  trumpeters  on  the  mountain  tops  grow  red  in  the  face  as 
they  blare  this  forth  to  the  world.  It  goes  re-echoing  along 
through  every  city  in  the  land.  It  spans  the  seas  and  awakens 
man's  cupidity  far  and  near,  and  the  thronging  crowd  moves  on. 

The  old  settlers  of  Milwaukee  will  remember  William  Hayward. 
who  kept  the  gunsmith  shop  on  West  Water  street.  He  was  a 
most  upright  and  excellent  citizen,  and  removed  to  this  country 
many  years  ago.  Between  him  and  myself  there  existed  a  cordial 
friendship  when  he  resided  among  us.  And  I  was  very  glad  to  find 
him  and  his  excellent  wife  at  Georgetown,  whither  we  came  on 
our  journey.  This  little  city,  nestled  8,000  feet  up  in  the  moun- 
tains, is  the  center  of  a  large  and  prosperous  silver  mining  inter- 
est. Mr.  Hayward  has  been  a  constant  laborer  and  explorer  in 
these  mountains  all  these  toiling  years.  He  brought  intelligence, 
muscle,  skill,  justice,  fortitude  and  perseverance  with  him.  He 
has  been  met  by  treachery,  injustice  and  oppression  beyond  what 
most  men  can  endure.  Bu.t  in  the  end  I  am  happy  to  know  that  a 
competency  has  come  to  him  for  his  declining  years.  Not  as 
much  as  he  would  have  had  if  he  had  remained  in  Milwaukee,  but 
oh,  what  days  and  weeks  and  months  and  years  of  toil  he  has  put 
forth,  hid  away  in  the  clefts  of  these  mountains,  that  he  might 
bring  forth  their  treasures. 

I  asked  Mr.  Hayward  what  in  his  judgment  would  be  the  daily 
wages  if  all  the  gold  and  silver  that  had  been  taken  out  of  the 
mountains  had  been  equally  distributed  among  the  toilers  in  the 
mountains,  and  he  replied  that  it  would  not  reach  seventy-five 
cents  a  day.  Here  is  about  where  the  mining  business  will  land. 
There  will  be  one  Tabor  in  each  one  hundred  thousand  who  make 
the  venture.  There  will  be  one  like  the  man  with  his  two  boys 
who  worked  three  years  and  was  offered  $10,000  for  a  third  of 


i  vS  Prom  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

their  mine,  in  each  ten  thousand.  There  will  be  quite  a  large 
number  of  men  who  work  for  wages  who  will  come  out  with  good 
savings.  But  there  remain  the  far  larger  number  who,  like  the 
poor  Englishmen  at  the  end  of  twenty  years'  of  toil,  have  nothing 
to  show,  while  thousands  upon  thousands  have  fallen  by  the  way 
and  lie  hid  away  among  the  mountains  with  no  sign  to  mark  where 
they  rest.  Of  these  the  trumpeters  upon  the  mountain  tops  say 
nothing. 

How  bright  and  beautiful  was  the  day  as  we  mounted  our  horses 
at  Farvvell's  Reduction  Works,  to  ascend  the  higher  mountains 
under  the  escort  of  Mr.  Hayward,  that  we  might  enter  sorrfe  of 
these  mines  and  see  with  our  own  eyes  these  achievements  of  man 
in  finding  out  the  secret  places  were  the  great  Creator  had  hid 
away  the  precious  metals. 

We  passed  the  Equator  mine,  in  which  some  of  our  Milwaukee 
people  are  interested.  The  foreman  being  away  we  did  not  enter, 
and,  pursuing  our  journey,  ascended  to  the  Coulter,  one  of  Mr. 
Hayward's  discoveries,  and  upon  which  he  labored  seven  years 
before  realizing  any  profit.  It  is  now  paying — though  he  has  sold 
out.  Into  this  we  entered,  and,  each  with  candle  in  hand,  wound 
our  way  far  to  the  depths  of  the  mountain.  My  little  grandson, 
who  rode  behind  me  strapped  to  my  back  as  we  ascended  the 
mountain,  was  a  little  timid,  but  he  soon,  took  on  courage,  plodded 
his  way  with  candle  in  hand,  and  did  as  well  as  the  rest.  At  length 
we  reached  the  "  lode,"  and  here  the  workmen  were  at  work.  Mrs. 
Holton  took  the  pick  and  with  her  own  hands  smote  the  rock  and 
secured  a  specimen  of  the  ore  in  the  Coulter  mine. 

Colorado  and  New  Mexico  will  for  all  time  beckon  the  world  to 
come  to  them  for  health  considerations. 

But  enough.  To-morrow  we  visit  awhile  with  Governor  and 
Mrs.  Hoyt,  and  then,  ho  !  for  Salt  Lake. 

It  will  be  noted  that  Wisconsin  has  furnished  a  good  deal  of 
timber  for  Governors — Pitkin  for  Colorado,  and  Hoyt  for  Wyoming. 

E.  D.  H. 


LETTER IV. 


Among  the   Mormons — Salt  Lake'  City — The    Tabernacle — Sunday 
Services — The  Personnel  of  the  Leading  Saints — Inter- 
views with  the  Leaders  of  the  Mormon  Church. 


SALT  LAKE,  January  5,  1880. 

So  far  as  meeting  our  Mormon  brethren,  nothing  could  have 
been  more  opportune.  Everybody  knows  about  the  Great  Taber- 
nacle. It  seats  twelve  thousand  people.  It  is  an  oblong. 
Its  exterior  seen  at  a  distance  looks  like  an  immense  turtle,  and  it 
is  rough  and  coarse  upon  the  outside.  It  is  made  entirely  of  wood. 
Its  interior  is  worthy  of  careful  observation.  The  immense  ceil- 
ing springs  to  its  center,  supported  only  by  the  outside  walls.  A 
gallery  thirty  feet  deep  resting  on  pillars,  runs  along  the 
two  sides  and  front  end  of  the  building,  while  at  the  west  end 
rise  successively  three  platforms  upon  which,  on  the  great 
occasions  of  public  service,  sit  the  various  orders  of  the  Priest- 
hood. The  upper  seat  is  occupied  by  the  Apostolic  Council,  chief 
of  which  was  Brigham  Young  in  his  lifetime,  now  John  Taylor. 
Behind  these  altars  stands  the  grand  organ,  one  of  the  largest  in 
the  world.  A  bright,  sprightly  Englishman  is  the  janitor,  who 
accompanied  us  to  visit  the  building.  He  sent  us  to  the  extreme 
east  end  of  the  gallery  while  he  stood  by  the  organ  in  the  west 
end.  And  now  we  talked  in  a  whisper,  standing  250  feet  apart, 
and  could  hear  each  other  perfectly.  He  dropped  a  pin  and  its 
fall  was  heard  as  if  close  by.  In  like  manner  could  the  touch  01 
the  hand  as  it  felt  along  the  floor  in  search  of  the  pin  be  distinctly 
heard. 

I  asked   the  janitor  if  he  could  sing.     He  replied  affirmatively, 
and  drawing  his  hymn  book  from  his  pocket  proceeded  to  the  pul- 


20  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

pit,  where  the  late  Brigham  poured  forth  with  stentorian  voice, 
command  and  exhortation  to  the  Mormon  Church,  and  sung  with 
considerable  sweetness  one  of  Zion's  songs.  The  accoustic  prop- 
erties of  the  vast  building  seem  to  be  perfect. 

But  this  building  is  not  used  by  the  Saints  for  public  service  in 
the  winter,  since  there  is  no  means  of  heating  it,  and  Brigham  had 
said  that  because  it  was  built  of  wood  it  would  not  be  safe  to 
attempt  to  introduce  stoves  and  furnaces.  Hence  the  brethren  had 
no  large  commodious  place  in  which  to  hold  winter  meetings. 
Accordingly  visitors  to  Salt  Lake  in  the  winter  would  have  no 
opportuniiy  of  seeing  the  Saints  in  any  large  number  together. 
But  it  happened,  that  a  new  building  standing  in  the  same  en- 
closure with  the  Tabernacle  was  so  far  completed  as  to  be  used  for 
a  State  conference— and  this  conference  began  its  session  the  eve- 
ning of  our  arrival  and  continued  it  through  yesterday  (Sunday). 

All  the  magnates  of  the  church  were  present  and  a  large  con^- 
course  equal  to  five  thoustnd  people  filled  to  overflowing  this  new 
and  commodious  building.  Here  then,  was  our  opporunity  to 
worship  with  the  true  and  genuine  Latter  Day  Saints.  In  the 
morning  we  sallied  forth-  over  the  crisp  snow— for  valley  and  moun- 
tain have  on  white  robes — and  made  our  way  to  the  great  square 
enclosed  with  a  high  wall,  wherein  stands  the  Tabernacle  and  the 
temple  in  process  of  building  and  the  new  assembly  hall.  Thither 
the  people  were  flocking  and  we  with  them.  Already  the  house 
was  filled.  But  we  pushed  into  the  gallery  and  found  a  venerable 
man  with  flowing  white  beard  and  white  hair  occupying  the  chief 
seat  of  the  Elders,  already  preaching.  This  proved  to  be  the  cele- 
brated Orson  Pratt,  now  one  of  the  Council  of  Twelve,  and  one 
of  the  oldest  and  ablest  defenders  of  the  faith. 

Brother  Orson  was  enforcing  the  importance  of  keeping  the 
"Word  of  Wisdom."  A  good  deal  of  diphtheria  has  prevailed 
among  the  Mormon  families,  and  he  declared  it  to  be  a  visitation 
of  God  because  the  heads  ot  families  had  grown  slack  in  the  mat- 
ter of  keeping  the  "  Word  of  Wisdom." 

Upon  inquiry  I  learned  that  this  "Word  of  Wisdom"  was  a 
book  of  directions  as  to  living,  which  prohibited  all  intoxicating 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  2 1 

drinks,  all  use  of  tobacco,  tea  and  coffee.  Not  a  bad  book,  indeed. 
Orson  admitted  that  he  himself  had  gone  a  little  astray,  but 
would  repent  and  turn  unto  the  Lord  with  full  purpose  of  heart, 
and  exhorted  all  his  brethren  to  do  the  same,  yea,  commanded 
them,  if  they  would  turn  away  the  anger  of  the  Most  High. 

We  could  not  stay  through  the  morning  service,  for  we  must  go 
to  our  own  people,  and  went  and  found  a'  pleasant  house,  and  (in 
the  contrast)  a  delightful  congregation.  Rev.  Mr.  Barrows,  a 
young  and  talented  man,  is  the  pastor  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  and  most  heartily  did  we  enjoy  that  truly  Christian  ser- 
vice. 

In  the  afternoon  we  put  out  at  an  early  hour  from  our  excellent 
hotel,  "The  Continental,"  to  give  full  heed  to  the  service  of  our 
Mormon  friends  in  the  new  assembly  hall.  But  when  we  came"  to 
the  place  of  the  great  assembly,  we  found  the  thronging  multitude 
pressing  in,  and  following  on  we  found  ourselves  in  a  standing 
crowd  with  no  further  ingress.  Then  we  turned  and  went  to  the 
gallery,  and  there  we  found  the  same  throng.  Well,  this  would 
not  do.  We  must  have  a  fair  show;  we  must  come  near  to  the 
chief  saints;  therefore  turning,  we  made  our  way  through  the 
throng  to  the  very  front  of  the  altar  and  into  the  front  aisle. 
There  stood  a  decent  looking  man  as  usher,  and  accosting  him  I 
said,  we  were  strangers  and  would  thank  him  for  a  seat.  He 
secured  two  good  seats  for  us  very  near  and  directly  before  the 
rising  platforms  of  the  distinguished  members  of  the  priesthood 
elders,  bishops,  apostles.  Behind  them  all,  upon  the  upper  plat- 
form, and  before  the  great  company  of  the  singers,  sat  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Council,  at  the  right  hand  of  whom  was  the  venerable 
President,  and  successor  of  the  illustrious  Brigham,  John  Taylor. 

At  the  front,  and  near  where  we  sat,  was  a  long  table  upon  which 
the  Communion  Service  of  bread  and  water  was  spread.  Before 
this  table  sat  twelve  Bishops  to  dispense  the  elements.  Among 
these  Bishops  was  a  brother  of  Brigham,  an  old  man  who  slept 
much  during  the  service. 

The  service  began  by  singing.  Bishop  Cannon,  brother  of  the 
delegate  at  Washington,  presided.  After  singing,  one  of  the 


22  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

Bishops  led  in  prayer,  which  would  have  been  a  proper  one  in  any 
Christian  assembly;  again  singing,  by  the  choir  of  fifty  singers, 
then  a  blessing  on  the  bread.  Now,  the  elements  were  distributed 
by  many  hands  to  the  great  congregation  of  five  thousand  people, 
for  the  new  building  is  a  fine  and  large  one,  with  gallery  the  entire 
circuit.  But  the  preaching  must  go  on  contemporaneously  with 
the  taking  of  the  communion,  and  it  did. 

On  this  first  occasion,  when  a  great  congregation  of  the  saints 
were  able  to  meet  in  the  winter,  who  should  preach  if  the 
Head  of  the  Church  did  not?  John  Taylor,  President  of  "the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints"  arose  in  his  chief 
place  and  stood  forth.  He  is  a  man  70  years  old,  hair  and  beard 
white  as  snow;  is  nearly  six  feet  high  and  well  proportioned;  a 
large,  fine  head,  his  black  frock  coat  well  buttoned — and  he  posed 
himself  as  if  he  was  an  orator  indeed.  His  speech,  slow  and  meas- 
ured, was,  upon  the  whole,  dull.  After  complimenting  Brother 
Pratt's  address  of  the  morning,  and  urging  that  more  attention  be 
given  to  the  "Word  of  Wisdom,"  he  repeated  the  Lord's  prayer 
and  took  the  words  "Thy  Kingdom  Come"  as  the  foundation  of 
his  discourse.  There  had  been  many  kingdoms  of  all  sorts  and 
sizes,  but  God's  kingdoms  among  men  had  been  few  and  far 
between.  But  in  these  latter  times  a  revelation  had  been  made 
through  Joseph  Smith  that  had  brought  in  a  new  dispensation,  the 
Latter  Day  Saints.  And  right  here  and  now  in  this  very  church 
did  we  not  know  that  we  were  God's  people  ?  Did  not  these  Bishops 
through  whom  the  Holy  Ghost  had  been  communicated  to  thou- 
sands upon  thousands  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,  did  they  not  know 
it  ?  Certainly  they  did,  declared  this  man  who  spoke  by  authority. 
This  being  so,  what  became  our  duty?  Clearly  to  stand  in  our 
lots  and  places  as  saints  should  stand.  We  had  enemies.  Our 
holy  and  divinely  established  religion  was  attacked;  should  we  regard 
God's  law  or  man's  law?  And  rising  to  great  voice  and  true 
pathos,  he  declared  that  he  for  one  should  stand  by  God's  law, 
and  then  appealed  to  the  congregation  to  know  its  views,  to  be 
declared  by  the  uplifted  hand.  All  hands,  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, five  thousand  strong,  were  shown  affirmatively. 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  23 

The  great  man  sat  down,  and  then  came  forward  Joseph  Smith, 
Jr.,  a  nephew  of  the  Prophet,  also  one  of  the  "Council  of 
Twelve,"  the  highest  Mormon  judicatory.  "  Yes,"  said  Joseph,  "  I 
never  expect  to  be  delivered  from  persecution  until  the  great  day 
of  Christ's  coming.  The  wicked  world  is  at  emnity  with  God's 
saints,  always  has  been  and  always  will  be.  But  His  saints  must 
stand  and  endure  hardship  as  true  soldiers,  leaving  the  conse- 
quences with  God." 

Singing,  some  notices,  and  a  benediction,  closed  this  meeting. 
The  order,  quiet  and  attention  of  the  congregation  was  exemplary. 
The  average  physiognomy  of  the  people  was  fair.  There  were  no 
handsome  women,  and  all  were  dressed  plainly  but  decently. 

The  Salt  Lake  Tribune  of  this  morning  mak^s  Mr.  Taylor  say 
the  following  in  his  discourse:  "I  defy  the  United  States.  I  will 
obey  God;  these  are  my  sentiments." 

I  think  the  speaker  used  no  such  language  as  his  defiance  of  the 
United  States.  His  assertion  that  he  would  obey  God  I  have 
already  recited,  and  this  was  its  extent.  He  might  have  had  an 
ulterior  intent.  But  still  I  do  not  think  it  fair  for  the  Tribune  to 
put  such  words  of  treason  in  his  mouth  when  they  were  not 
uttered. 

The  institution  of  polygamy  is  no  new  thing.  It  has  cursed 
every  nation  and  age  that  has  practised  it.  It  is  a  great  curse  to 
this  people,  being  founded  in  sensuality  and  lust,  despite  all  the 
special  pleading  of  Orson  Pratt  and  their  other  thinking  and  intel- 
lectual men.  The  Government  should  lay  strong  hands  upon  it, 
and  enforce  with  vigor  a  law  declaring  polygamy  an  offense  to 
good  morals  and  a  crime. 

We  spent  yesterday  in  going  among  the  brethren.  We  called 
upon  Mr.  Eldridge,  the  manager  of  the  "  Zion's  Co-operative 
Mercantile  Association,"  in  his  magnificent  store  of  105  feet  wide 
and  316  feet  long,  three  stories  above  the  basement,  and  in  which 
he  sells  $4,000,000  worth  of  goods  per  annum.  Mr.  Eldridge 
politely  went  with  us  from  end  to  end  of  his  extensive  establish- 
ment. Every  kind  of  merchandise  is  kept  in  full  stock.  Mr.  Eld- 


24  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

ridge  is  a  man  of  55  years  of  age,  a  sober,  sensible  and  candid 
man,  the  husband  of  four  wives. 

From  Brother  Eldridge  we  went  to  pay  our  respects  to  Brother 
Taylor.  We  found  him  in  Brigham's  old  office,  a  small  yellow  build- 
ing standing  next  to  Brigham's  dwelling,  and  where  he  died. 
Taylor  only  keeps  his  office  here,  his  residence  being  away  in 
another  part  of  the  city.  Taylor  is  not  a  rich  man,  and  only  has 
four  wives.  Brigham  was  pretty  heavy  on  the  wife  business — the 
number  was  above  twenty.  We  found  Mr.  Taylor  in  conversation 
with  two  or  three  gentlemen.  His  secretary  handed  him  my  letter 
from  Gov.  Smith,  which  at  once  commanded  his  attention,  and, 
dismissing  the  gentlemen  present,  gave  my  wife  and  myself  a  most 
courteous  and  polite  audience,  continuing  it  as  long  as  we  chose  to 
remain.  He  is  a  gentleman  in  manners,  has  a  strong,  benevolent, 
and  I  may  say  handsome  face,  is  an  Englishman  by  birth,  coming 
out  through  Canada.  He  seems  to  command,  upon  the  whole,  the 
confidence  of  his  people.  But  he  is  without  the  strong,  magnetic, 
organizing  force  which  Brigham  possessed. 

The  balance  of  the  day  was  employed  in  sleighriding  through 
and  around  the  beautifully  located,  and,  in  some  respects,  the 
beautifully  built  city  of  Salt  Lake. 

The  mountains  stand  in  glorious  array  around,  shutting  it  on 
every  hand,  save  towards  the  north.  We  are  here  at  Ogden,  now, 
and  in  two  hours  will  resume  our  journey  westward.  E.  D.  H. 


LETTER  V. 


Musings  on  the   Way — -The   Great  American    Desert — The  Sierra 

Nevadas — Sacramento   Valley — Arrival  in  the 

City  of  the  Golden  Gate. 


SAN  FRANCISCO,  Jan.  13,  1880. 

If  it  were  not  irreverent  I  would  almost  ask  the  Creator  if  He 
really  thought  He  was  doing  a  good  work  when  He  made  all  that 
piece  of  the  continent  lying  between  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Platte  and  the  upper  waters  of  the  Sacramento.  I  can  fancy  that 
He  might  reply  to  such  a  challenge  as  this,  by  saying  that  He  be- 
gan the  making  of  the  United  States  on  the  eastern  side  with  a 
large  assortment  of  good  material;  that  He  made  the  New  Eng- 
land States  of  good  stuff;  that  He  put  into  New  York,  New  Jersey 
and  Pennsylvania  a  superior  quality  of  material;  put  pretty  good  stuff 
into  all  the  States  south  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Ohio  River,  and 
then  came  to  making  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Missouri, 
Iowa  and  Minnesota.  These  used  up  a  very  large  amount  of  the 
stuff  that  goes  to  make  up  the  best  elements  for  man's  sustenance 
and  happiness.  '  But  when  He  came  to  make  Wisconsin  he  was  so 
lavish  in  the  use  of  the  best  elements  of  earth's  highest  estate 
that  the  material  left  on  hand  was  very  poor  and  refuse,  and  He 
just  piled  it  up  between  the  two  water  courses  named,  serving  a 
sort  of  usefulness  in  holding  the  two  sides  of  the  country  together, 
and  that's  about  all. 


26  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

It  was  night  when  we  entered  the  cars  to  pursue  our  journey 
from  Ogden.  Two  nights  and  two  days  have  been  heretofore  em- 
ployed to  measure  the  882  miles  from  Ogden  to  San  Francisco. 
Your  readers  may  not  all  keep  in  mind  that  what  we  call  the  Cen- 
tral Pacific  Railroad  is  composed  of  two  distinct  corporations, 
namely,  the  Union  Pacific  from  Omaha  to  Ogden,  1032  miles, 
and  the  Central  Pacific  from  Ogden  to  San  Francisco,  882  miles — 
total  1914  miles.  We  slept  well  that  night  from  Ogden.  The 
road  was  smooth,  and  the  cars  were  of  superior  make.  The  morn- 
ing dawn  brought  the  interminable  desert,  more  drear  now  if  pos- 
sible than  in  Wyoming.  For  all  the  day  we  were  passing  along 
the  Humboldt  river.  To  be  sure  in  many  places,  along  a  narrow 
skirt  of  meadow  would  be  seen  cattle  feeding  upon  its  grass, 
but  mostly  alkali  land,  with  only  sage  brush,  prevailed.  Mountains  are 
always  in  sight,  sometimes  far  away  and  sometimes  near  at  hand, 
but  always  stark  and  naked  of  verdure  or  trees.  At  suitable  dis- 
tances, upon  the  whole  line,  excellent  eating  places  with  hotel 
accommodations  have  been  established — and  around  these  places, 
in  some  instances,  are  considerable  villages.  Large  herds  of  cattle 
are,  after  all,  sustained  upon  these  dismal  plains  in  wide  ranges 
and  their  owners  go  to  make  up  population,  and  produce  business, 
in  these  villages.  Mining  also  obtains  in  all  this  wide  expanse  of 
intermingled  mountain  country. 

Conspicuous  among  the  verdant  spots  in  this  desert  land,  is  the 
Humboldt  Station.  Its  owners  antedated  the  railroad,  and  com- 
manded a  stream  of  pure  water,  descending  from  the  mountains,  at 
no  distant  point  from  the  depot.  They  were  so  generous  with  the 
company  that  it  in  turn  makes  it  a  stopping  and  eating  place  for 
all  trains.  And  these  owners  use  their  mountain  stream  not  only 
to  supply  the  engines  and  travelers,  but  they  have  made  fountains 
and  irrigating  channels  and  planted  trees  and  created  lawns  so 
that  a  beautiful  specimen  is  given  of  what  may  be  done  in  the 
desert  with  water.  As  the  night  came  on  we  came  to  the  Sink  of 
the  Humboldt  river — where  this  considerable  river  is  lost  in  the 
desert  sands.  Sometimes  it  is  quite  a  lake,  but  now  it  would  ap- 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  2  7 

pear  from  what  I  could  see  as  we  passed  it  on  the  cars,  but  a  wide 
reedy  marsh. 

This  is  the  last  night  in  the  great  journey.  As  it  shuts  in,  the 
clouds  lower  and  the  wind  assumes  a  mournful  dirge-like  sound,  as 
it  soughes  with  ten-ific  force  arou-nd  the  train.  The  snow  com- 
mences to  fall.  But  we  speed  on  our  way.  We  are  n  earing  the 
Sierra  Nevada  Mountains.  We  wanted  to  make  this  part  of  the 
journey  by  daylight,  but  cannot.  The  one  passenger  train  per 
day  allows  of  no  choice,  and  so  we  plunge  on  into  the  night  and 
down  the  mountains.  The  snow  was  heavy  and  the  storm  was 
fierce  and  came  near  detaining  our  train  as  it  did  subsequent  ones. 
But  we  came  on  and  at  daylight  the  descent  was  made  and  we 
were  among  the  foot-hills  of  the  mountains,  with  the  snow  turned 
to  a  heavy  rain,  and  in  place  of  sage  grass  and  desolation  the 
beautiful  green  grass  and  evergreen  trees.  As  we  swept  along  down 
the  Sacramento  Valley  and  the  day  advanced,  the  rain  ceased,  and 
the  sun  came  forth  revealing  a  world  of  splendor  and  magnifi- 
cence. It  was  delightful  indeed  to  come  again  to  a  land  of 
homes — sweet  fields  and  all  clustering  evidences  of  a  prosperous 
and  happy  people. 

By  a  cut-off  recently  made  by  the  Central  Pacific,  the  journey 
from  Sacramento  to  San  Francisco  is  shortened  by  some  sixty 
miles  and  the  passenger  reaches  the  latter  city  some  three  or  four 
hours  sooner  than  he  used  to.  It  was  a  lovely  ride  from  Sacra- 
mento that  bright  morning — all  the  hill  sides  and  the  wide  stretch- 
ing meadows  were  lustrous  with  green.  The  plowmen  were  seen 
afield  on  every  hand.  That  ride  embraced  two  journeys  upon  the 
waters  of  the  glorious  bay — one  by  which  a  massive  boat  takes  the 
whole  train  for  a  space  of  five  miles,  and  again  when  we  leave  the 
train  at  Oakland,  to  pass  by  ferry  boat  to  the  City  of  the  Gold- 
en Gate.  Here  we  found  admirable  quarters  in  one  of  her 
great  hotels  at  noon  of  Thursday,  the  8th  of  January,  having  had 
a  most  prosperous  journey  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  wondrous 
Pacific  Coast. 


28  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

I  may  not  conclude  this  letter  without  an  observation  or  two 
about  the  Pacific  Railroad.  Whatever  poor  material  the  Lord 
may  have  had  to  make  up  the  country  over  which  the  national 
highway  runs,  considering  so  much  was  put  into  mountains,  it 
'is  just  splendid  to  witness  how  they  were  set  aside  and  a  passage 
way  left  for  this  road  to  come  through.  A  great  share  of  the  road 
was  very  cheaply  made.  That  is,  made  without  large  cost.  It  is 
a  well  constructed  road  in  all  particulars.  The  train  upon  which 
we  came  was  composed  of  one  express  car,  one  baggage  car,  one 
emigrant  and  smoking  car,  one  day  car  and  one  sleeper.  There 
were  not  more  than  twenty- five  passengers  all  told.  So  far  as  this 
one  train  would  show,  the  business  would  seem  small.  The  con- 
ductors and  station-keepers  spoke  of  the  westward  bound  trains 
as  runningjVery  light  this  winter.  Costly  as  was  this  road  and 
large  as  was  the  national  contribution  to  it,  and  rich  as  are 
the  men  who  derived  those  large  subsidies  for  building  a  road 
not  so  very  costly,  yet  it  is  all  right.  I  regard  Mr.  Oakes  Ames  as 
an  injured  man.  Few  men  of  capital  were  willing  to  grapple  at 
the  time  with  this  work.  The  books  of  subscription  for  taking 
stock  in  this  road  were  left  with  me  for  the  entire  State  of  Wis- 
consin, and  after  public  advertisement  there  was  but  one  man  to 
be  found  in  the  State  that  would  subscribe  for  a  dollar — he  took 
five  thousand  dollars.  That  gentleman  was  Mr.  Thompson,  of  Ra- 
cine, former  Manager  of  the  Western  Union  Railroad.  For 
months  the  project  lay  open  and  none  of  the  great  capitalists  of 
the  country  would  touch  it. 

Oakes  Ames,  a  tough,  strong,  self-made  man,  bred  to  making 
shovels,  now  with  his  large  wealth  stepped  into  the  arena  and 
called  around  him  men  equally  brave  and  tackeled  the  east  end  of 
the  road.  Huntington,  Stanford,  Crocker  and  Hopkins,  up  here 
at  Sacramento — country  merchants — but  possessed  of  the  real 
Yankee  grit,  tackeled  the  west  end.  Great  indeed  were  the  diffi- 
culties to  be  overcome.  The  cutting  through  the  mountains  was 
not  the  greatest.  Think  of  drawing  drinking  water  forty  miles  for 
man  and  beast  engaged  in  the  work  of  construction  !  The  horror- 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  2  9 

ableness  of  the  desert  was  enough  to  appal  most  men.  But  these 
two  sets  of  men  pushed  through  the  work  and  the  Government 
settled  with  them,  and  then  did  the  unspeakable  mean  thing  of 
turning  upon  these  men,  conspicuously  Mr.  Ames,  and  pursuing 
him  to  his  grave  with  every  sort  of  vile,  but  unproved,  accusation. 
This  subsidy  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  was  justified  much  as  were 
many  of  the  war  measures — from  the  necessity  of  the  case. 

But  now  let  it  be  the  very  last  ever  to  be  granted  by  the  Fed- 
eral Govervment.  First,  for  the  reason  that  it  has  no  constitu- 
tional right  to  grant  any  whatever  ;  second,  that  it  has  no  capacity 
to  conduct  them  if  it  had  the  power  to  grant  them.  E.  D.^H. 


LETTED  VI. 


On  the  Pacific  Coast —  Topographical  Picture  of  San  Francisco- 
Its  Banks— Its  People— Its  Sea-Side  Re- 
sorts— Sea  Lions. 


SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal.,  Jan.  20,  1880. 

We  made  our  advent  to  the  Golden  State  amid  wind,  snow  and 
rain.  But  as  we  came  to  the  lowlands  the  storm  subsided,  the 
clouds  lifted,  the  sun  came  forth,  and  all  was  luminous  and  bright 
at  midday,  and  nature's  welcome  was  cordial  and  gladsome.  At 
night,  however,  the  clouds  wcame  on  and  all  was  sour  and  dark. 
The  second  day  brought  a  cold,  heavy  rain,  and  but  little  could 
be  done  in  the  way  of  going  forth.  Under  the  escort  of  Mr.  P. 
C.  Cole,  so  well  known  in  Milwaukee,  we  visited  the  Bank  of 
California,  where  I  found  an  old  personal  friend  in  the  cashier, 
Mr.  B.  Murray,  formerly  cashier,  or  rather  assistant  cashier,  in 
the  American  Exchange  Bank  of  New  York.  Most  cordial  was 
my  welcome  at  the  hands  of  this  accomplished  gentleman  and 
bank  >fficer.  We  visited  the  Exchange,  where  Bulls  and  Bears  do 
congregate  and  make  hideous  roaring  betimes;  also  the  Woman's 
Exchange,  for  the  women  here  are  stock  brokers  and  dealers  as 
well.  We  visit  d  the  costly  "Turkish  bath"  built  by  Senator 
Jones — but  not  any  better,  if  as  good  as  the  Milwaukee  baths,  for 
practical  purposes.  My  wife  has  since  taken  a  bath  there,  and 
thinks  it  not  as  good.  We  visited  the  famous  safety  vaults — the 
same  as  the  First  National  Bank  has,  and  the  same  as  Mr.  Mitchell 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  31 

has  constructed  in  his  building.  But  these  are  on  a  very  extended 
scale,  larger,  Mr.  Cole  says,  than  any  in  the  United  States  else- 
where. We  visited  Mr.  Andrew's  jewelry  store  called  the  Diamond 
Store,  the  very  ceiling  of  which  is  studded  with  genuine  diamonds. 
Andrews  began  his  career  as  a  sidewalk  hawker  of  cheap  jewelry. 
All  this  tramping  I  did  under  an  umbrella  with  my  pantaloons 
turned  up  at  the  bottom.  It  was  enough  for  the  first  day  and  a 
fair  beginning.  Everybody  was  scolding  the  weather  and  declar- 
ing it  unprecedentedly  cold.  I  had  expected  to  have  found  my 
neighbor  and  friend,  Col.  Yates,  here,  but  instead,  a  letter  from 
San  Diego  saying  that  he  had  found  the  weather  so  cold  and  bad 
here  that  he  was  obliged  to  flee,  and  was  now  at  San  Diego  in  all 
glorious  summer,  and  urged  us  to  join  him.  A  leading  member  of 
my  party  now  united  in  this  general  proclamation  against  the  San 
Francisco  climate,  and  urged  immediate  flight.  But  there  come 
times  when  all  persons  in  command  must  put  their  foot  down 
with  firmness.  So  it  devolved  upon  your  humble  servant  to  say 
whether  we  should  stay  or  go.  In  deciding  this  question,  one  needs 
to  consider  the  objects  of  a  journey  to_this  coast.  If  it  be  health, 
and  drouth  and  warmth  be  the  conditions  of  its  promotion  and 
preservation,  why  then  let  such  hie  themselves  to  the  sunny  and 
dry  climate  of  San  Diego.  But  not  so  with  us.  We  had  come  to  see 
the  people  of  California,  to  note  their  institutions,  their  buildings, 
the  thousand  and  one  activities  by  which  one  generation  of  men 
have  built  up  great  cities,  displaying  superb  architecture,  and 
unparalleled  costliness,  opened  up  highways  through  the  fastnesses 
of  the  mountains  and  bidden  the  steam  horse  to  go  swiftly  through 
and  over  them  ;  built  mighty  ships,  which  but  yesterday  had  no 
existence,  and  bidden  them  to  go  upon  the  ocean,  hitherto  un- 
tracked  by  steam,  and  open  quick  trade  with  the  millions  on  mil- 
lions of  the  Asiatic  races  ;  a  people  who  have  had  the  courage  and 
nerve  to  maintain  specie  payments  when  the  whole  nation 
beside  had  apostatized  and  gone  after  shin  plasters,  falsely  called 
money  ;  a  people  who  have  studied  out  new  problems  in  State 
government,  and  are  apparently  putting  them  into  successful 
operation.  No,  we  cannot  go  summering  to  San  Diego. 


32  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

If  Paris  is  France,  so  is  San  Francisco,  California.  We  must 
stay  here.  Climate,  in  a  sense,  is  of  no  consequence  with  well 
people.  As  between  heat  and  cold, 'that  is  a  question  of  more  or 
less  wool.  One  needs  considerable  time  in  a  metropolitan  city  to 
get  ready  for  work.  Familiarity  with  streets  and  places,  with  its 
geography  and  topography,  are  necessary ;  with  its  railroad  depots 
and  steamboat  wharves,  with  its  horse -car  and  steam-dummy 
routes  ;  these  mastered,  each  active  day's  work  brings  information 
and  pleasure. 

The  third  day  after  our  arrival,  came  off  clear  and  beautiful, 
although,  as  all  said,  it  was  cold.  But  this  cold  that  they  talk 
about  is  above  freezing.  Well,  what  shall  be  done  on  this  third 
day?  The  six-year-old-boy  in  the  party  had  been  told  glowing 
stories  about  the  sea  lions,  to  be  seen  on  the  rocks  which  rise  out 
of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  his  voice  was  raised  long  and  loud,  that 
the  first  and  most  important  thing  to  be  done  was  to  see  the  lions  and 
the  ocean.  To  tell  the  truth,  his  older  fellow  travelers  participated 
not  a  little  in  the  boy's  curiosity,  so  it  was  decided  that  we  go 
forth  and  see  these  sights.  Incidentally  the  journey  affords,  an 
opportunity  to  make  a  grand  observation  of  the  breadth  of  the 
city,  and  upon  the  heights  which  are  passed  a  fine  view  of  it 
and  of  the  bay,  the  Golden  Gate,  and  the  ocean  is  gained.  Let  me 
attempt  just  a  little  outline  of  this  city  and  its  surroundings,  as  some 
of  your  readers  may  not  have  studied  it,  A  tongue  of  land  comes 
up  from  the  south  between  the  coast  and  the  bay  of  San  Francisco 
This  tongue  of  land  has  an  average  width  of  eight  miles  from  east 
and  west  ;  and  a  length  from  south  to  north  of  twenty-five  miles. 
On  this  tongue  of  land  are  many  abrupt  hills  and  semi-mountains, 
but  at  its  northeastern  terminus  is  a  handsome  plateau  of  land 
upon  which  the  city  is  built.  The  waters  of  the  bay  at  the  north, 
east  corner  of  this  peninsula  turn  a  right  angle  and  continue  a 
wide  open  water  way  towards  the  west  for  some  six  miles,  with  a 
width  of  five  miles.  At  this  point,  the  mountains  from  the  north 
close  in  the  waters  of  the  bay  and  the  ocean,  against  a  rocky 
shore  on  the  San  Francisco  side,  until  the  space  is  but  two  miles 
wide.  Here  at  this  narrow  pass  is  the  Golden  Gate  proper.  For 


Prom  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  33 

two  miles  further  the  shores  widen,  and  at  once,  the  mariner  is 
out  upon  the  broad  expanse  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  narrow 
place  is  particularly  and  especially  the  "Golden  Gate."  A 
magnificent  entrance  to  a  magnificent  harbor  !  This  inside  water- 
way is  composed  of  two  bays,  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  and 
San  Pablo  Bay.  This  water-way,  which  should  have  had  but  one 
name,  runs  nearly  north  and  south.  Its  average  width  is  six  miles 
and  the  two  bays  will  .measure  more  than  forty  miles  from  south 
to  north.  Deep  water  prevails  over  the  most  of  this  inland  sea. 
The  entrance  to  the  ocean  is  nearly  midway  of  its  length.  Beautiful 
cities  and  villages  line  its  shores.  Directly  opposite  San  Francisco, 
five  miles  across  the  bay  and  due  east,  is  the  city  of  Oakland,  with 
its  40,000  inhabitants.  This  is  to  San  Francisco  what  Brooklyn  is 
to  New  York.  It  is  a  city  of  churches,  fine  homes,  and  a  higher 

grade  of  people. 

« 

Now  for  the  ocean  and  the  sea  lions.  Come  with  me 
from  our  home  in  the  Grand  Hotel  on  Market  street  up  Mont- 
gomery due  north  four  blocks  to  California  street.  Here  we 
come  to  a  new  and  peculiar  street  railway.  It  consists  of  what  is 
called  a  dummy  and  an  ordinary  street  railway  car.  They  are 
attached.  The  dummy  draws  the  car.  The  dummy  has  outside 
seats  running  lengthwise  of  the  car.  Between  the  seats  are  the 
levers  and  machinery  for  propelling  the  two  cars,  and  there  stands 
the  engineer.  There  is  no  steam  on  board.  You  ask  how  is 
this  train  propelled  ?  Between  the  track  and  under  ground 
is  a  cable  running  upon  rollers  for  the  length  of  the  road,  say 
three  miles.  Access  to  this  cable  is  had  by  a  crack  running  in  the 
center  of  the  track  of  the  width  of  one  inch,  through  which 
descends  an  arm  of  iron,  say  eight  inches  wide  and  three-fourths  of 
an  inch  thick,  which  at  the  pleasure  of  the  engineer  can  grasp  the 
revolving,  or  passing-  cable,  and  so  have  his  train  carried  on  as  fast 
as  the  cable  goes.  A  stationary  engine  of  large  power  revolves 
this  cable.  I  have  not  been  to  these  works  as  I  intend  to  do,  to 
learn  more  particularly  the  facts  of  this  California  invention.  But 
we  are  aboard  on  California  street,  and  the  first  dash  is  made  right 


34  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

up  a  steep  hill  at  as  swift  a  rate  as  we  go  down  hill  or  as  we  go  on 
the  level.  In  passing  along  this  road  we  go  by  the  palatial  homes 
of  the  Stanfords',  the  Hopkins'  and  the  Coltons',  and  many 
others.  They  are  upon  heights  that  command  land  and  water  for 
wide  distances.  But  on  we  go  over  hill  and  dale.  Plebian  homes 
are  in  the  hollows  (which  are  best  off  when  the  wind  blows  and 
the  sand  flies  in  clouds)  and  patricians  on  the  mountain  tops. 
Three  miles  brought  us  to  the  end  of  this  superb  method  of  loco- 
motion. Here  we  come  to  an  omnibus  for  the  remaining  four 
miles  to  the  ocean,  a  light  one  drawn  by  two  horses.  The  young 
man  in  charge  tells  me  his  horses  are  good,  that  he  charges  twenty- 
five  cents  for  each  passenger,  and  that  he  came  from  the  State  of 
Maine.  Well,  away  we  go  over  as  fine  a  macadamized  road  as  you 
ever  drove  upon.  In  this  journey  we  are  in  the  midst  of  sand 
mountains.  Originally  they  had  no  verdure  or  shrubbery  upon 
them;  but  now  they  have  been  largely  appropriated  to  homes  for  the 
dead.  Protestant  cemeteries,  Catholic  cemeteries,  Jewish  cemeter- 
ies, and  Masonic  cemeteries.  Trees  have  been  planted  and  varied 
artistic  floral  and  horticultural  work  supplied,  so  that  the  desert  is 
redeemed.  But  ah,  see,  see  !  Was  it  the  Spaniard  Balboa  who  in 
1523  first  set  European  eyes  upon  the  Pacific  Ocean?  His  glad- 
ness was  celebrated  by  religious  observances.  Well,  Neddie,  the 
boy,  cried  out  "Grandpa,  there's  the  ocean,"  and  clapped  his 
litttle  hands,  and  his  grandpa  lifted  his  hat  at  the  grand  sight,  and 
I  guess  his  grandma  thought,  if  she  did  not  shout,  Amen. 

Right  upon  the  shore  of  the  ocean  stands  the  Cliff  House,  an 
extensive  hotel  restaurant.  It  is  perched  upon  the  rock,  say  forty 
feet  from  the  water.  Directly  before  this  house,  say  five  hundred 
feet  away,  rise  abruptly  from  the  water  three  conical  rocks,  naked 
and  bare.  The  principal  one  of  these  rocks  I  judge  rises  from  the 
water  forty  feet.  The  others  perhaps  half  that  height.  Their 
diameter  at  the  water's  edge  may  be  thirty  to  fifty  feet,  and  are 
perhaps  thirty  to  fifty  feet  apart  from  each  other.  It  is  upon  these 
rocks  that  the  sea  lions  have  come  and  made  a  home.  Upon  any 
sunny  day  hundreds  of  these  monsters  may  be  viewed  from  the 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  35 

broad  porch  of  this  hotel  at  pleasure.  The  weight  and  size  of 
these  animals  is  from  one  hundred  to  one  thousand  pounds.  Here 
they  lie  upon  rocks  writhing  and  crawling  over  each  other.  They 
thrust  their  long  tapering  necks  and  little  heads  up  and  cry  and 
howl  like  dogs,  keeping  up  a  terrible  din.  Ever  and  anon  you 
will  see  schools  of  them  playing  around  in  the  surging  waves  that  lash 
the  rocks.  And  now  watch  this  one,  as  he  approaches  the  rocks, 
and  waits,  until  he  gets  a  good  strong  wave  to  carry  him  high  up 
the  side  of  the  rock  where  he  is  landed  and  begins  his  crawling, 
climbing  motion  to  get  up  among  his  fellows.  His  hind  flippers 
act  as  feet,  while  his  forward  ones  act  as  hands  and  arms  to 
help  him  on.  At  length  he  is  in  a  sunny  spot,  and  there  he 
stretches  himself.  His  hair,  still  saturated  with  the  sea  water, 
shines  like  a  black  glass  bottle.  But  by  and  by,  as  he  dries,  he 
has  a  yellowish  color. 

It  is  said  that  each  of  these  creatures  on  an  average  consume 
thirty  pounds  of  fish  per  day,  and  the  Fish  Commissioners  for  this 
State  have  given  the  opinion  that  it  costs  too  much  to  preserve 
them  for  mere  show  purposes,  for  they  are  protected  by  statute. 

To  see  them,  as  you  do  on  these  rocks,  with  their  slow  and 
tedious  motion,  and  apparently  inactive  and  incapable  movement, 
you  wonder  how  they  can  catch  thirty  pounds  of  fish.  But  go  now 
to  Woodward's  Garden,  one  of  the  show  places  of  the  city,  and 
witness  the  movements  of  this  animal  as  he  is  there  exhibited. 
There  is  but  one.  He  weighs  two  hundred  pounds.  He  is  kept 
in  a  pond  or  reservoir,  say  fifty  feet  in  diameter.  Twice  a  day  he 
is  fed  on  eight  pounds  of  small  fish.  An  hour  before  the  time  of 
feeding  he  appears  and  begins  to  swim  about  holding,  his  lithe  cat- 
like head  out  of  the  water,  continually  calling  and  crying  for  his 
food.  The  man  comes  at  length  and  plants  himself  by  the  railing 
that  surrounds  the  pond,  with  his  basket  of  fish.  Instantly  Mr. 
Sea  Lion  is  at  his  side,  and  now  we  will  observe  if  he  be  the 
stupid,  slow-going  individual  we  supposed  him  to  be  as  he  lay 
creeping  and  waddling  and  writhing  on  the  rocks.  The  man  takes 


36  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

a  fish,  weighing,  say  half  a  pound,  and  throws  it  clear  across  the 
pond.  Never  did  arrow  fly  swifter  than  did  this  monster  as  he 
darted  for  his  prey,  and  seizing  it,  turned  himself  and  returned 
with  equal  velocity  to  the  place  of  starting,  ready  for  another 
turn  ;  and  thus  it  was  seen  that  snail  as  he  was  on  the  rocks,  he 
was  lightning  in  the  water,  and  woe  betide  the  poor  fish  on  whose 
track  the  sea  lion  comes. 

The  journey  to  visit  the  sea  lions  and  the  Pacific  Ocean  was  a 
well-spent  day  in  promoting  the  objects  of  a  visit  to  California. 

E.  D.  H. 


LETTER  VII. 


A    Visit  to  the  Suburban   City  of    Oakland  —  Mayor  Kalloch  and 
Other  Officials  —  The  School  System. 


OAKLAND,  Cal.,  January  23,  1880. 

It  is  three  days  since  we  removed  from  the  great  city  of  300,000 
inhabitants  to  this  lesser  one  of  40,000.  Our  home  is  855  Wash- 
ington street,  "Clarendon  House."  We  rent  a  suite  of  rooms 
and  live  at  our  pleasure,  either  on  the  street,  like  Arabs,  or  in  our 
own  home.  There  are  great  inconveniences,  to  the  diligent  trav- 
eler, at  being  shut  up  to  the  regular  meals  of  hotel  life.  The 
"apartment"  life  is  far  the  best,  most  economical  and  convenient. 
For  example,  we  are  invited  out,  to  be  guests  of  a  friend  for  two 
days  and  a  night.  Very  well,  shut  shop  and  go,  leaving  all  bag- 
gage, save  your  satchel.  The  rent  of  my  house  is,  say,  one  dollar 
and  a  half  per  day,  whereas,  at  any  of  the  principal  hotels,  my 
daily  expenses  would  reach  six  or  eight  dollars,  and  no  allowance 
for  absences.  But  I  sat  down  to  say  something  of  the  municipal 
affairs  of  San  Francisco. 

Yesterday,  I  set  apart,  to  visit  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  other 
public  functionaries  at  the  City  Hall,  which  is  fully  twelve  miles 
from  my  home  in  Oakland.  But,  see  how  nicely  I  am  circum- 
stanced for  going  and  coming.  My  house  stands  on  the  corner  of 
Washington  and  Seventh  streets.  Along  Seventh  street,  trains  on 
the  Central  Pacific  Road  of  four,  five  and  six,  large,  long,  and  ele- 
gant paseenger  cars,  pass  both  ways,  every  half  hour  in  the  day. 
Each  train  stops  at  my  house,  so  that  I  can  step  off,  or  on,  at 
pleasure,  and  with  the  greatest  convenience.  When  you  go  into  a 
strange  place,  to  see,  and  be  seen,  have  an  eye  to  its  public  con- 


38  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

veniences.  The  Central  Pacific  has  several  tracks  running  through 
Oakland,  beside  its  main  overland  track.  For,  all  overland  pas- 
sengers approach  San  Francisco,  through  Oakland.  But  a  peculiar 
feature  attaches  to  these  splendid  trains  of  cars,  continually  run- 
ning^ through  this  city.  There  is  no  charge  to  passengers  riding 
in  them  within  the  limits  of  Oakland.  For  example,  I  took  my 
little  grandson,  night  before  last,  to  take  a  free  ride  to  Alameda, 
two  miles  away.  Off  we  went,  riding  by  most  beautiful  homes, 
gardens,  and  grounds,  laden  with  green  shrubbery  and  odorous 
with  flowers,  and  the  mighty  evergreen  oaks,  which  doubtless  gave 
the  town  its  name.  It  was  the  time  of  the  closing  of  the  after- 
noon schools,  and  as  we  made  frequent  stops,  in  came  bevies  of 
school  children,  availing  themselves  of  free-riding  to  get  to  their 
homes. 

This  right  of  free  passage,  upon  any  trains  of  the  road,  through 
Oakland,  reserved  to  its  inhabitants,  comes,  for  the  right  of  way, 
granted  to  trains,  through  streets,  and  for  docking,  and  ferry  priv- 
ileges. But  on  the  ferries  a  charge  is  made  of  fifteen  cents  each 
way  and  from  this  source  doubtless  a  revenue  is  derived  abundant- 
ly compensating  for  all  this  free  railroad  service  within  the  bounds 
of  the  city  of  Oakland. 

The  day  was  glorious  as  we  stepped  on  our  train  to  visit  Mr. 
Kalloch,  the  Mayor  'of  San  Francisco,  at  the  City  Hall,  twelve 
miles  away.  We  ran  four  miles  by  rail.  A  portion  of  that  dis- 
tance, say  two  miles,  is  upon  piles,  getting  far  out  into  the  bay  so 
as  to  shorten  the  ferriage  as  much  as  possible.  Here  we  come  to 
the  railroad  company's  extensive  docks,  and  where  the  ferry  is  in 
waiting  to  take  us  five  miles  across  the  bay.  About  half  a  mile 
from  these  docks  in  the  direct  route  to  San  Francisco  is  Goat 
Island,  a  small  mountain,  rising  abruptly,  from  the  water.  Your 
readers  will  remember  that  the  railroad  company  wanted  the  Gov- 
ernment to  grant  them  this  island  for  wharf  purposes,  which  it 
refused  to  do.  It  would  for  many  reasons  appear  that  it  could 
have  wisely  granted  this  request,  giving  the  company  solid  and 
large  ground  for  its  wharves,  and  shortening  the  passage  across  the 
bay  by  this  half  mile. 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  39 

We  are  off  on  the  ferry.  Magnificent,  indeed,  is  this  steamship. 
No  teams  allowed  upon  it — all  devoted  to  the  thronging  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  passengers.  It  is  250  or  300  feet  long  and  pro- 
portionately wide.  The  whole  lower  deck  is  left  for  standing  and 
walking  room,  with  some  seats,  while  the  upper  saloon,  superbly 
upholstered,  would  seat  not  less  than  five  hundred  people.  She 
moves  with  the  utmost  precision,  firmness,  and  strength.  The  or- 
der and  neatness  is  perfection  itself — so  silent  and  quietly  is 
every  thing  done,  that  you  would  think  it  instinct  with  life.  No 
officers  are  seen,  and  but  few  servants.  These  are  neatly  dressed, 
and  as  speechless  as  automatons. 

We  land  at  the  foot  of  Market  street,  the  Broadway  of  San 
Francisco.  Twenty  horse  cars,  more  or  less,  are  in  waiting,  ready 
to  take  the  passengers  over  their  ramifying  tracks  to  any  part  of  the 
city.  My  route  leads  directly  up  Market  street,  two  miles  or  more, 
to  the  City  Hall. 

This  is  a  great,  long,  straggling  establishment,  and,  in  its  unfin- 
ished condition,  looks  like  a  ruin  upon  its  outside.  It  stands  in 
fact  in  the  "Sand  Lots."  In  other  words,  the  place  whe.re  "Denis 
Kearney"  and  his  compatriots  do  congregate,  each  Sunday  after- 
noon, is  in  the  open  "unkempt"  part  of  the  public  square,  lying 
upon  the  south  side  of  the  .City  Hall,  a  space  of  land  composed  of 
sand — hence  "Sand  Lots." 

Our  first  respects  must  be  paid  to  the  head  of  the  city  and 
county  government,  Mayor  Kalloch.  The  Mayor  was  a  Baptist 
clergyman — a  man  of  eloquence  and  power,  displayed  in  Boston, 
in  New  York,  in  Kansas,  and  finally  in  the  Tabernacle,  here  in 
San  Francisco  (a  large  edifice  on  Fifth  street,  near  Market),  where 
he  so  fearlessly  discussed  public  questions,  denouncing  corpora- 
tion evils  and  Chinese  dangers,  that  the  attention  of  the  "Sand 
Letters"  was  turned  towards  him,  and  he  was  nominated  for  Mayor 
at  their  instance.  DeYoung,  of  The  Chronicle,  denounced  him — 
and  reproduced  the  old  charges  of  immoral  conduct,  and  at  length 
brought  vile  accusations  against  Kalloch's  dead  father,  whereupon 
Kalloch  declared  the  mother  of  DeYoung  was  a  prostitute. 
DeYoung  in  a  dastardly  way  came  upon  Kalloch,  unawares,  and 


40  from  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

shot  him.  At  first  it  was  supposed  that  he  could  not  survive  the 
wound.  Pending  his  dangerous  illness,  the  election  occurred,  and 
he  was.  triumphantly  elected.  But  he  is  not  well.  He  has  at- 
tempted to  assume  the  duties  of  his  office,  but  the  day  I  was  there 
he  was  confined  to  his  home,  and  there  is  at  this  time  some  ap- 
prehension that  he  may  not,  after  all,  get  well. 

Turning  from  the  Mayor's  office,  we  proceeded  to  the  Board  of 
Education,  hoping  to  find  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion, to  the  end  that  at  that  time,  or  some  other,  I  might,  with 
him,  visit  the  public  schools.  But  he  was  not  in.  His  Secretary 
gave  me  the  Twenty-Sixth  Annual  Report  of  the  Superintendent 
of  Public  Schools,,  a  book  of  350  pages,  which  I  send  to  be  placed 
in  The  Sentinel  library. 

At  a  glance  at  it,  it  will  be  seen  that  19,926  boys,  and  18,203 
girls,  were  the  number  of  enrolled  pupils  for  the  last  year.  Total 
income  of  the  school  department  for  the  year  just  closed  is  $856,- 
107.52.  The  value  of  school  property  in  San  Francisco  is  some- 
thing over  $3,000,000.  This  makes  splendid  pecuniary  showing 
for  a  city  .thirty  years  old,  in  the  direction  of  public  education. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Board  directed  me  to  the  Lincoln  school 
as  a  good  specimen.  After  visiting  the  City  and  County  Clerk, 
^with  whom  I  had  a  long  interview,  and  who  gave  me  a  copy  of 
the  City  Reports  of  862  pages,  I  went  to  this  Lincoln  school,  Mr. 
Edwards,  of  Gorham,  Maine,  was  Its  principal.  He  was  so  en- 
gaged with  callers  that  he  sent  his  head  teacher  with  us,  and  we 
visited  six  of  the  different  class  rooms,  each  containing  fifty  pupils. 
In  this  building  were  thirteen  hundred  boys.  All  was  order,  de- 
corum and  apparent  thoroughness.  If  the  truth  must  be  told,  one 
of  these  class  rooms  was  not  duly  criticised  on  account  of  the 
beauty  and  sweet  manners  of  the  "school  inarm."  I  must  not 
lisp  her  name;  if  I  did  there  would  be  a  stampede  of  young  men 
from  the  East  to  the  West,  and  I  fear  duels  would  be  fought.  What 
I  did  not  know  before  I  learned  now,  that  the  boys  and  girls  of 
San  Francisco  attend  separate  schools.  This  is  in  violation  of  the 
old  New  England  practice  and  the  universal  common  school  prac- 
tice of  our  country,  and  in  violation  of  the  best  condition  and 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  41 

interests  of  education  and  the  welfare  of  the  sexes.     Coeducation 
of  the  sexes  in  schools  is  as  valuable  as  in  the  family. 

The  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco  is  governed  by  one  and 
the  same  body  of  men.  Twelve  Supervisors,  representing  so  many 
wards,  is  the  legislative  body  for  the  city  and  county,  and  are 
elected  on  a  general  ticket.  While  the  candidate  is  to  be  the  resi- 
dent of  a  given  ward  he  must  be  voted  for  by  all  the  other  wards. 
So  it  will  be  seen,  that  it  becomes  the  interest  of  each  ward  to  put 
up  its  best  man,  and  if  the  parties  do  not  put  up  good  men  it  be- 
comes easy  for  independent  organizations  to  do  so.  So  that  in 
either  event,  it  is  reasonably  certain  that  good  men  are  to  become 
Supervisors.  They  hold  their  office  for  two  years,  and  receive  a 
compensation  of  $1,200  per  annum.  The  Mayor  is  elected  for  two 
years,  salary  $3,000.  The  County  Clerk  receives  $4,000,  Sheriff 
$8,000,  Auditor  $4,'ooo,  Treasurer  $4,000,  Assessor  $4,000,  Tax 
Collector  $4,000,  License  Collector  $3,000,  Register  of  Voters 
$3,600.  Surveyor  $500  and  fees,  Superintendent  of  Public  Streets 
$4,000,  Coroner  $4,000,  etc.  These  will  suffice  as  specimens. 
The  Park  Commissioners  and  Water  Commissioners  serve  without 
pay. 

The  real  estate  of  San  Francisco  for  the  last  year  appraised  at 
$191,078,000,  and  the  personal  property  $52,298,000,  and  the 
amount  raised  for  all  purposes  in  the  city  and  county  as  per  Tax 
Collector's  report  for  1879,  is  $5,513,536.08.  This  seems  a  large 
sum  to  raise  for  300,000  people.  How  does  the  inventory  of  prop- 
erty compare  per  capita  with  ours,  and  how  does  the  percentage 
of  tax  compare  with  that  of  Milwaukee?  I  have  long  believed 
that  our  dual  government  of  city  and  county  was  an  evil,  and 
that  one  should  be  wiped  out,  and  by  so  doing  a  large  saving 
would  be  made  in  the  annual  expenses  of  the  people  and  their 
affairs  managed  a  great  deal  better. 

If  I  write  any  more  I  shall  fail  to  meet  my  engagement  to  dine 
with  Capt.  C.,  who  has  agreed  to  take  me  to  places  next  March 
where  trout  of  the  first  quality  and  size  are  to  be  taken.  So  as  I 
don't  want  to  lose  either  my  dinner  or  the  chance  of  taking  Cali- 
forniartrout,  I  must  quit  gossiping  with  you.  E.  D.  H. 


LETTER  Vlll. 


San  Francisco — Its   Dark   Side — Licentiousness   and   Stock    Gam- 
bling— Its  Bright  Side — Christian   Churches  and  Schools. 


SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal.,  February  2,  1880. 

The  sin  of  licentiousness  seems  to  have  been  among  the  most 
fatal  of  all  the  catalogue  of  evils  that  came  with  man's  fall.  Noth- 
ing more  degrades  the  soul,  dries  up  all  its  better  and  finer  sensi- 
bility, or  quicker  sends  the  body  to  be  food  for  worms  than  this 
vice. 

The  Divine  Judgment  was  exemplified  in  the  utter  destruction 
of  the  Cities  of  the  Plain,  where  the  degradation  had  become  so 
universal  that  ten  righteous  persons  could  not  be  found  among 
the  entire  population. 

In  all  the  ages,  and  along  every  path  which  man  has  trodden, 
this  appalling  source  of  woe  has  been  present.  It  finds  its  chief 
seat  and  centre  in  great  cities.  Perhaps  in  modern  times  no  city 
shows  it  in  a  bolder  and  more  offensive  form  than  the  city  of 
London.  Hundreds  of  women  can  be  met  in  the  gas  lights  of 
that  city  plying  their  trade  in  the  most  open  and  unblushing  man- 
ner. In  New  York,  the  open  display  of  the  evil  is  not  near  as 
offensive  as  it  was  years  ago,  and  yet  its  practice  is  wide  and 
devastating.  Chicago  and  San  Francisco,  from  common  consent, 
are  largely  involved  in  the  dire  evil,  and  this  leads  me  to  speak  of 
what  is  reasonably  patent  upon  this  subject  in  this  city. 

Every  city  has  its  grand  centre.  Market  street  is  to  San  Fran- 
cisco what  Broadway  is  to  New  York.  From  Market  street  runs  to 
the  north  Sansome,  Montgomery,  Kearney  and  Dupont  streets.  On 
these  five  streets  (including  Market)  and  their  immediately  adjoin- 
ing and  connecting  streets  are  the  fine  stores,  banks,  offices  and 
hotels  of  the  city.  Go  upon  Montgomery  or  Kearney  streel^  upon 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  43 

any  fine  afternoon  and  you  will  see  as  many  handsome,  well-dressed 
and  well-mannered  women  as  can  be  seen  in  any  city,  'probably, 
in  the  world.  I  think  I  have  never  seen  handsomer  women  than 
here.  This  applies  to  the  virtuous  woman  as  well  as  to  those  living 
outside  of  the  pale  of  virtue. 

In  this  district  of  the  city  which  I  have  defined  are  hundreds  of 
well-furnished  suits  of  apartments  on  the  second,  third  and  fourth 
floors  of  spacious  and  elegant  buildings,  which  are  rented  out  by  the 
week  or  month  I  looked  into  numbers  of  these  attractive  places 
and  found  those  which  would  have  suited  me  well,  and  to  which  I 
would  have  liked  to  have  taken  my  family,  but  well-informed  and 
discreet  friends  shook  their  heads  and  said  No,  and  I  asked  why, 
and  the  answer,  not  perhaps  quite  as  plainly  spoken  as  I  shall  write 
it  here,  was  that  these  elegant  and  attractive  places  were  in  too 
many  cases  houses  of  prostitution  or  assignation. 

A  young  gentleman  friend,  well  versed  in  the  city,  kindly  accom- 
panied me  in  one  of  my  searches  for  "Apartments,"  and  he  gener- 
ally warned  me  away  from  all  this  region  for  the  reason  given. 
"Well,"  said  I,  "I  find  this  thing  is  pretty  extensive  here."  "Oh, 
yes,"  he  replied,  "so  general  that  nothing  is  thought  of  it.  It  is 
no  longer  regarded  as  vice."  Very  well,  so  thought  the  inhabit- 
ants of  those  old  cities.  But  neither  then,  or  at  any  time  since, 
have  the  consequences  of  this  transgression  been  stayed.  Fine 
apparel,  fine  manners,  fine  equipage,  fine  apartments,  may  soothe 
the  conscience  and  postpone  the  day  for  a  little,  that  is  all. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  no  open  intemperance  is  witnessed  in  the 
streets  of  San  Francisco.  Nor  is  any  loud  brawling  and  boisterous 
talk  heard.  Nor  is  the  practice  of  stock  jobbing  and  gambling  as 
rampant  now  as  in  former  days.  Still  this  attracts  thousands  of 
men  and  women  to  Montgomery,  Pine  and  California  streets  daily 
to  deal  in  stocks.  This  business  is  largely  done  in  the  open  street. 
The  elegant  Exchange  building  on  Pine  street,  between  Sansome 
and  Montgomery,  is  the  place  where  the  stocks  are  publicly 
called  and  dealt  in  by  the  large  brokers  and  dealers.  None  can 
enter  here  but  members,  and  a  membership  costs  $25,000.  The 
transactions  here  serve  to  fix  the  price.  But  I  fancy  that  a  larger 


44  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

business  is  done  outside,  by  the  thousands  on  the  curb  stones,  than 
here  in  the  Exchange  itself.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  there  is  no 
rain  to  interfere  with  the  standing  from  morn  till  eve  on  the 
pavement,  if  you  desire  to  do  so.  Though  this  is  called  the  rainy 
season,  there  has  been  but  two  out  of  the  twenty-six  days  of  my 
residence  here  upon  which  any  rain  has  fallen. 

I  am  not  attempting  in  this  random  way  of  writing  to  analyze 
the  vices  of  the  great  city  of  the  Pacific  Coast.  I  have  incident- 
ally glanced  at  one,  and  her  vice  of  gambling  has  been,  and  still  is, 
one  that  carries  its  thousands  to  sorrow  and  misery. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  if  old  Father  Lot  could  have  but 
found  ten  righteous  in  the  city  it  would  have  been  saved. 

Let  the  righteous,  then,  take  courage.  The  dark  spots  of  Lon- 
don, of  New  York,  of  Chicago,  and  of  San  Francisco,  are  shut  up 
and  narrowed  in,  and  all  without  illumed  and  made  full  of  hope, 
courage,  joy,  human  happiness  and  salvation  by  the  individual 
and  collective  exercise  of  the  Christian  faith. 

So  herein  San  Francisco  grandly  and  nobly  stand,  in  the  an- 
tithesis of  all  the  sins,  vices  and  crimes  that  any  of  its  guilty  inhabit- 
ants may  practice,  a  grand  company  of  those  who  side  themselves 
with  the  law  of  religion,  as  witness  the  following  statistics:  In 
the  city  are  the  following  named  religious  organizations  under 
the  authority  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  viz  :  six  Baptist,  five  Con- 
gregational, nine  Episcopalian,  six  Evangelical  Lutheran,  six 
Hebrew  Congregations,  twelve  Methodist,  fourteen  Presbyterian, 
fourteen  Catholic,  two  Swedenborgian,  one  Unitarian,  one  Uni- 
versalist  and  eleven  miscellaneous  church  organizations,  besides 
which  are  fourteen  Bible,  Missionary,  and  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations,  and  other  kindred  societies.  Making  in  all  one  hun- 
dred separate  organizations,  embracing  many  thousands  of  the  good 
men,  women  and  children  of  this  important  city  who,  in  one  form 
or  another,  adhere  to  the  faith  of  Him  who.  spake  as  never  man 
spake,  and  who  furnish  moral  and  religious  salt  enough  to  serve  the 
city  and  make  grand  progress  in  all  that  conserves  human 'welfare. 

E.  D.  H. 


LETTER  II. 


The   Garden  of    California — Santa    Clara    Valley — The   Almaden 
Quicksilver   Mines — San   Jose — Old  Friends. 


SAN  JOSE,  Cal.,  February  9,  1880. 

You  don't  know  Mr.  Waters,  of  San  Jose,  California,  do  you? 
Well,  he  is  a  dapper  little  fellow,  and  is  the  livery  stable  keeper 
just  opposite  the  Auzarias  House,  kept  by  Mr.  Churchill,  formerly 
of  the  United  States  Hotel  in  Milwaukee.  I  waited  on  Mr.  Waters 
to  learn  if  he  could  furnish  me  with  a  team  and  carriage  sufficient 
to  transport  eight  persons,  great  and  small,  from  the  city  of  San 
Jose  to  the  New  Almaden  mines,  twelve  miles  away.  Yes,  indeed, 
quoth  the  up-and-a-coming  Waters;  if  he  could  not  do  that  very 
thing,  where  was  the  individual  to  be  found  that  could  ?  And  as 
to  the  quality  of  the  horses,  were  they  not  of  pure  Mambletonian 
blood  ?  and  would  they  not  obliterate  the  space  between  San  Jose 
and  the  New  Almaden  mines  in  about  the  time  it  would  take  the 
wind  to  go?  Well,  but,  Mr.  Waters,  are  you  aware  as  to  whom 
you  are  speaking  on  the  subject  of  the  quality  of  horse  flesh? 

It  was  squarely  demanded  of  Waters  if  he  had  ever  been  in  Wis- 
consin— and  it  was  reasonably  well  intimated  to  him  that  if  he  had 
not  been  there,  that  his  observation  and  acquaintance  with  the 
animal  called  the  horse  was  to  be  considered  as  hardly  complete. 
Furthermore,  he  was  clearly  informed  that  the  party  with  whom  he 
was  treating  could  accept  of  no  "plugs"  to  perform  this  journey  to 
the  New  Almaden  mines',  and  that  smooth  words  and  high-sound- 


46  From  Midland  to  ttie  Pacific. 

ing  pedigrees  were  not  what  was  wanted  as  much  as  good,  strong, 
powerful  animals.  Waters  admitted  that  the  talkiag  part  was  about 
as  good  on  one  side  as  the  other,  and  hitched  on  two  animals  of 
the  kind  demanded  to  a  nice  three-seated  vehicle  with  ample  room. 

Our  party  went  forth  this  bright  morning  armed  and  equipped 
with  lunch  baskets,  filled  with  all-abounding  and  delicious  food  to 
be  partaken  of  upon  the  mountains. 

The  road  from  San  Jose  to  the  Reduction  Works  of  this  great 
Quicksilver  Mining  Company  at  the  foot  of  the  Coast  Range,  is 
twelve  miles  in  length,  and  is  as  smooth  and  hard  as  a  house  floor. 
The  horses  made  good  what  their  master  had  claimed  for  them, 
and  paced  off  the  road  in  good  style.  We  were  passing  through 
magnificent  wheat  fields,  some  well  up,  others  just  coming  up,  and 
others  being  put  in,  while  others  were  still  being  plowed.  We 
passed  splendid  vineyards,  large  orchards  of  pears,  apricots, 
almonds  and  small  fruits. 

This  Santa  Clara  Valley  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  finest  in  the 
State.  In  its  center  sits  the  city  of  San  Jose,  with  its  twenty 
thousand  inhabitants,  with  handsome  houses  and  grounds,  fine 
blocks  of  buildings,  elegant  school  houses  and  other  public  build- 
ings, distant  fifty  miles  nearly  south  from  San  Francisco. 

It  took  us  about  two  hours  to  make  the  journey  from  the  city  to 
the  Reduction  Works  of  the  New  Almaden,  which  are  at  the  foot 
of  the  mountain.  But  then,  you  see,  while  my  friend  Waters' 
horses  could  have  brought  us  on  the  journey  in  less  time,  we  had 
many  stops  to  make,  for  we  had  not  a  few  questions  to  ask  as  we 
rode  along  this  beautiful  road,  and  country,  on  that  bright  fore- 
noon as  to  what  was  the  value  of  land,  of  horses,  cattle,  etc. 

The  little  village  at  the  works,  composed  entirely  of  the  people 
connected  with  them,  is  called  Hacienda.  As  we^enter  it,  we  first 
come  to  the  large  mansion  and  handsome  grounds  of  M*  Randall, 
the  Superintendent  of  the  mine.  The  roadway  is  lined  with  shade 
trees,  and  a  bright  stream  of  water  runs  by  the  side  of  tl\e  road. 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  47 

A  polite  and  intelligent  gentleman,  long  connected  with  the 
mines,  showed  us  through  the  works,  explaining  the  whole  process 
of  reducing  the  precious  commodity  from  the  ore.  The  ladies 
and  the  young  people  thought  it  a  curious  sensation  to  thrust  their 
hands  into  the  liquid  metal  as  it  stood  in  the  kettles,  preparatory 
to  being  put  into  the  iron  bottles  or  flasks,  for  shipment. 

Having  completed  our  observation  of  the  process  of  reduction, 
we  resumed  our  seats  in  the  carriage  and  commenced  the  ascent  of 
the  mountain,  where  the  mine  is,  and  from  whence  comes  the  ore. 
The  distance  is  two  miles,  and  the  elevation  may  be  two  thousand 
feet,  perhaps  more.  Another  village  and  church,  called  Almaden, 
is  up  the  mountain.  No  visitors  are  admitted  into  the  mine, 
which  goes  deep  down  into  the  bowels  of  the  mountain,  and  we 
are  content  with  a  view  of  the  handsome  landscapes  which  stretch 
away  before  us,  reaching  far  on  towards  the  bay  and  city  of  San 
Francisco,  commanding  this  beautiful  valley. 

But  the  time  has  come  to  find  our  picnic  ground  and  partake  of 
our  repast.  Here  on  this  mountain  side,  where  we  spread  our 
blankets  and  robes,  it  is  as  warm  and  pleasant  as  summer  with  us 
There  is  no  water  on  this  mountain  height,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Almaden  have  their  water  all  brought  up  in  casks  upon  the  backs 
of  donkeys.  I  went  to  the  decent  house  of  one  of  the  citizens  of 
Almaden,  who  was  a  Mexican,  and  asked  for  water,  which  he  hos- 
pitably furnished,  declining  compensation. 

What  a  royal  feast  was  that,  sharpened  by  our  ride  and  the  ad- 
vancing afternoon,  taken  upon  a  grassy  slope  of  the  Almaden 
Mountain  in  the  coast-range  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

This  quicksilver  mine  was  discovered  by  the  Spaniards  so  late  as 
somewhere  about  1840.  The  discoverers  sold  it  to  an  English 
company,  who  developed  it  and  made  much  from  it,  and  in  turn 
sold  it  to  a  New  York  company  now  carrying  on  the  mine.  Its 
productftn  last  year  amounted  to  about  20,000  flasks.  Each  flask 
contains  about  seventy  pounds.  The  price  of  the  article  is,  say 
forty  cents  per  pound,  making  the  value  of  each  flask  $25  or  more, 


48  From  Midland  io  the  Pacific. 

and   the  whole   production  of  the   mine  for  the  year  to  reach  the 
sum  of  $500,000. 

The  Gaudeloupe  mine,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the 
New  Almaden,  produces  three-fourths  as  much,  or  15,000  flasks. 

The  California  quicksilver  mines  produced  last  year  73,000 
flasks,  while  Spain  produced  but  40,000,  and  Austria  but  10,000  ; 
so  that  it  would  appear  that  the  quicksilver  mines  of  California 
surpass  those  of  Europe,  and,  for  ought  I  know,  of  Asia  besides. 

Four  happy  brilliant  days  marked  our  stay  at  the  bright  city  of 
San  Jose,  in  the  charming  valley  of  Santa  Clara.  Our  stay  was  made 
the  more  agreeable  from  the  generous  hospitality  extended  to  us 
by  our  old  Fourth  Ward  neighbors,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter  J.  Moody, 
who  we  were  happy  to  find  most  pleasantly  circumstanced  in  their 
new  home.  They  introduced  us  to  many  cultivated  and  pleasant 
people,  and  showed  us  the  many  handsome  places  with  which  the 
city  and  its  surroundings  abound.  We  now  go  by  railroad  up  the 
San  Waukeen  (San  Joaquin)  Valley  to  Los  Angeles.  E,  D.  H. 


LETTER  Z. 


Los  Angeles,  the  Beautiful  City  in  the   Valley  of  St.    Gabriel— Its 

Fruit  Farms,  Vineyards,  and  Landscapes — Methods 

of  Farming  in  Lower  California. 


Los  ANGELES,  Cal.,  Feb.  16,  1880. 

I  last  wrote  you  from  the  fertile  and  pleasant  valley  of  Santa 
Clara  and  the  bright,  attractive  city  of  San  Jose  (pronounced  San 
Hosay).  From  thence  we  came  here  by  rail,  a  distance  of  some 
400  miles  by  the  Central  &  Southern  Pacific  Railroad.  The  trend 
of  this  road  is  about  southeast  and  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  the 
sea  coast  until  the  coast  reaches  Point  Conception,  off  Santa  Bar- 
bara, when  it  turns  more  eastward  and  the  railroad  a  little  west- 
ward, and  the  two  come  together  within  fifteen  miles  at  this 
point. 

The  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  proper  leaves  the  old  overland 
road  at  a  point  called  Lathrop,.  in  the  valley  of  the  San  Joaquin, 
about  equi-distant  from  Sacramento  and  San  Francisco,  and  then 
pushes  up  this  greatest  of  California's  valleys,  the  San  Joaquin 
(pronounced  San  Waukeen),  for  250  or  300  miles.  I  was  very  sorry 
that  we  had  to  make  this  part  of  the  journey,  through  this  great 
wheat,  cattle  and  sheep  producing  valley,  in  the  night.  But  so  it 
was.  The  morning  light  found  us  out  of  the  valley,  and  revealed 
wide-spreading  hills  and  mountains,  and  our  route  was  winding 
along  their  sides,  and  doubling  our  former  track,  and  in  one  in- 
stance actually  going  around  the  cone  of  a  mountain,  and  crossing 
our  track  where  we  had  just  passed  eighty  feet  below,  being  that 


50  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

piece  of  this  road  called  "The  Loup."  For  a  hundred  miles  this 
road  runs  along  the  sides  and  over  the  crests  of  these  mountains. 
They  are  bored  by  numerous  tunnels. | 

Live  oak  and  mountain  pine  abound.  Little  or  no  underbrush 
obtains,  while  grass,  now  green  and  bright,  makes  a  handsome 
landscape,  and  abounding  pasture  for  sheep  and  cattle,  seen  along 
the  road.  The  cost  of  this  piece  of  road,  over  and  through  these 
mountains,  must  have  been  very  heavy,  and  drawn  largely  upon 
the  surplus  funds  of  the  Central  Pacific  to  have  built  it. 

Nor  does  the  enterprise  and  power  of  this  corporation  stop  here. 
It  has  pushed  on  and  is  nearly  at  Tucson,  in  Arizona,  six  hundred 
miles  from  here,  and  within  three  hundred  miles  of  El  Paso,  at  the 
western  corner  of  Texas,  where  it  will  be  met  by  the  Texas  Pacific 
Road.  Also,  it  is  said,  that  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe 
Road  will  soon  be  at  Fort  Craig,  in  the  Valley  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
which  is  within  three  hundred  miles  o'f  either  Tucson  or 
El  Paso.  So  that,  in  the  near  future,  it  is  certain  that  the  South- 
ern Pacific  Railroad  will  be  an  accomplished  fact,  opening  imme- 
diate and,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  prosperous  communication  with  all 
the  Southern  and  Southwestern  parts  of  the  country,  and  let  that 
day  be  speeded  on,  and  may  the  Crockers,  Standfords  and  Hun- 
tingtons,  and  their  associates,  have  much  credit  and  prosperity  for 
their  bold  enterprise  in  opening  up  this  great  highway  over  moun- 
tains and  through  deserts,  that  the  two  sides  of  the  continent  may 
have  another  iron  band  to  cement  and  bind  its  interests  in  unity, 
and  all  this  without  any  money  subsidy  from  the  Government. 
Withal,  it  is  a  well-built,  well-appointed  and  well-managed  road. 

I 

This  city  of  Los  Angeles  is  a  bright  handsome  town  of  15,000 
inhabitants.  You  know  what  the  meaning  of  the  name  is,  don't 
you  ?  Don't  know.  Well,  I  must  tell  you.  "  The  place  or  home 
of  the  angels."  Is  not  that  a  fine  name?  It  rather  makes  the 
blood  tingle  in  your  veins — makes  the  light  come  in  your  eye,  and 
your  tongue  to  wag  in  poetic  strains  to  think  of  it.  Yea,  more; 
it  summons  one  up  to  be  a  purer  and  better  person,  this  living 
and  being  at  the  home  of  the  angels  ! 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  5 1 

But  what  right  or  claim,  you  may  well  enquire,  has  this  place  to 
be  called  "  the  home  of  the  angels?"  Much  the  same  right,  no 
doubt,  that  has  authorized  the  use  of  so  many  saints'  names  to  be 
given  to  places,  and  towns,  by  the  Spanish  priests  who  came  to 
this  country  and  took  possession  of  it  one  hundred  years  ago.  If 
saints  and  angels  take  any  interest  in  places  that  are  named  after 
them,  and  have  any  power  over  affairs  in  this  "  mundane  sphere," 
California  ought  to  be  a  wonderfully  good  place  and  country,  for 
the  number  of  towns,  rivers,  valleys  and  mountains  named  after 
saints  is  very  great. 

But  has  Los  Angeles  the  right,  allegorically  or  otherwise,  to  be 
called  the  home  of  the  angels  ?  I  take  some  stock  in  the  affirma- 
tive side  of  this  question. 

A  range  of  mountains  starts  off  abruptly  from  the  ocean,  and 
runs  almost  due  east  for  a  long  distance,  say  fifty  or  sixty  miles, 
when  they  curve  away  to  the  south  and  east.  At  the  base  of  this 
range  of  mountains,  flows  out  an  undulating  and  beautiful  country, 
abounding  with  flowing  streams  and  springs.  In  the  centre  of  this 
plain,  and  in  the  midst  of  gentle  hills,  beautiful  for  situation,  did 
the  angels  make  their  home,  and  here  is  the  city  named  after  them. 

I  think  I  can  quite  well  understand  their  argument,  when  they 
selected  this  spot.  It  is  evident  that  Gabriel  was  among  them,  for 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  valleys  is  named  after  him — 
and  in  his  argument  for  locating  here  I  think  I  see  him  pointing 
his  fellows  to  that  range  of  mountains  I  have  spoken  of,  and  say- 
ing, "  See  how  the  north  wind,  and  the  west  wind,  with  their  snow 
and  their  cold  from  Alaska,  must  stand  back  and  stay  hehind, 
while  the  sunlight  from  glorious  morn  to  dewy  eve,  shall  pour  its 
rich  effulgence  forever  into  this  Edenic  spot."  Thus  spoke  Gabriel 
and  all  the  brethern  said  <f  Amen." 

We  came  here  on  a  Tuesday.  It  rained  that  day,  and  we  hast- 
ened to  find  a  home  that  should  be  in  accord  with  the  name  and 
spirit  of  the  place.  This  we  did  at  the  hostelrie  of  Mr.  Strow- 
bridge,  an  'unpretentious  place  called  the  "White  House."  Like 
all  angelic  things,  it  proved  better  than  it  promised.  Settled,  and 
rested,  we  are  ready  for  work.  We  can  do  much  on  foot.  The 


5  2  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

postoffice,  the  hotels,  the  principal  streets,  and  public  buildings, 
are  sought  out  and  viewed,  and  some  eminence  may  be  gained, 
but  it  may  be  well  supposed  that  the  home  of  beings  with  wings, 
able  to  make  wide  and  swift  circuits,  has  breadth  and  great  cir- 
cumference. Such,  indeed,  has  Los  Angeles;  and,  having  no  wings, 
we  must  look  out  for  the  best  blooded  California  horses.  Taking 
my  young  friend  Baker,  late  from  New  Hampshire,  for  my  guide, 
we  visited  numbers  of  livery  stables.  At  one,  the  man  was  away ; 
at  another,  the  buggies  were  all  out ;  at  another,  the  buggies  were, 
too,  all  out,  but  seeing  this  was  the  case  the  owner  said,  "I  have  a 
nice  two-seated  carriage  and  a  span  of  horses  which  I  think  you 
will  like  and  which  I  should  like  to  have  you  drive." 

I  had  already  talked  with  this  man,  and  found  that  he  had  worked 
as  a  tinner  under  Mr.  Charnley  on  the  Court  House  at  Milwaukee. 
This  circumstance  brought  us  into  new  relations,  and  made  matters 
run  very  smoothly,  even  angelic.  The  team  he  gave  me — the 
harness,  and  the  carriage,  were  all,  to  say  the  least,  that  human 
beings  need  to  have. 

It  was  noon  before  we  got  started.  These  horses  far  surpassed 
Water's  horses  at  San  Jose,  which  I  wrote  you  were  a  good  span  of 
horses.  It  took  all  my  strength  to  hold  them  All  the  roads  are 
splendid  in  this  country.  We  took  a  wide  sweep  over  hill  and 
dale,  amid  orange  groves  and  lemon  groves,  laden  with  fruit,  almond 
groves,  walnut  groves  and  vineyards.  The  towering  rose  bushes, 
geraniums,  heliotropes,  and  other  plants,  in  blossom,  made  the  air 
fragrant  with  their  odors.  The  lawns,  fields  and  hills  were  clothed 
in  their  tenderest  green.  The  summits  of  the  mountains  in  the 
distance  were  covered  with  snow.  As  the  afternoon  sunlight  came 
streaming  over  these  enchanting  landscapes,  coloring  and  bedecking 
them  with  exquisite  tints,  we  cried  out  and  said — "  Yes,  fit  home 
for  the  angels  !  " 

So  full  of  interest  was  this  ride  that,  Gibbs,  the  owner  of  the 
team,  was  requested  on  the  next  occasion  for  a  ride  to  have  his 
establishment  on  hand  early  in  the  morning.  I  had  now  studied 
my  lesson,  and  found  that  I  must  make  a  long  heavy  day's  ride  to 
witness  the  best  specimens  of  farming  and  horticulture  that  the 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  5  3 

region  afforded.  This  was  found  in  the  Valley  of  San  Gabriel. 
It  particularly  embraced  the  Indiana  settlement,  or  Pescadero,  and 
the  extensive  farms  of  Shorb,  Titus,  Rose  &  Baldwin,  besides 
many  other  smaller  places.  The  drive,  with  the  outs  and  ins, 
would  equal  forty  miles. 

Mrs.  Holton  and  Master  Neddie  James  are  on  the  back  seat, 
young  Baker  and  your  humble  servant  are  in  front.  For  the 
want  of  a  better  driver,  I  assume  the  reins.  They  go,  and  that  right 
along.  Never  before,  and  not  since,  when,  with  Gov.  Smith  we  spent 
those  wonderful  eighteen  days  in  Old  Egypt,  have  I  seen  any  such 
sunlight,  transparency  and  luminousness  of  atmosphere  as  character- 
ize the  days  here  in  Southern  California.  They  are  much  alike. 

The  Indiana  settlement  is  eight  or  ten  miles  northeast  of  Los 
Angeles.  This  settlement  was  started  some  seven  years  ago  upon 
virgin  land  by  Indiana  people.  It  is  situated  directly  before  the 
Sierra  Madre  Mountains,  upon  an  open,  undulated  plain.  To- 
day it  is  a  garden  spot.  Handsome  dwellings  rise  up  amid 
orange  and  lemon  groves,  and  occupy  a  wide  expanse  of  country. 
Admirably-made  roads  and  churches  and  school-houses  attest  the 
character  of  the  people.  A  system  of  water  works,  carried  by  iron 
pipes,  spreads  through  this  settlement,  affording  water  for  irrigat- 
ing and  other  purposes.  In  the  midst  of  this  community  has  our 
late  fellow-citizen,  Mr.  Markham,  made  his  home*  He  has  twenty- 
two  acres,  mostly  planted  in  oranges;  a  handsome  cottage  house 
and  surrounding  conveniences ;  altogether  a  pleasant  and  desirable 
home.  We  made  a  pleasant  call  upon  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Markham,  and 
were  glad  to  find  that  Mr.  M.,  who  was  obliged  to  leave  Milwau- 
kee on  account  of  rheumatic  troubles,  had  found  here  entire  relief 
and  health.  Here,  too,  we  met  Mr.  Shadbolt,  from  our  city,  who 
had  come  for  health  and  was  finding  it. 

From  Pescadero  we  drove  on  to  Sierra  Madre  Villa.  This  is 
directly  at  the  foot  of  the  range  of  mountains,  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  and  is  a  hotel  for  invalids  and  visitors,  much  frequented. 
In  this  locality  are  numerous  bee  ranches,  where  bees,  gathering 
honey  from  the  sage,  and  other  blossoms  on  the  mountains,  ac- 
cumulate large  quantities  of  honey  annually. 


54  from  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

Turning  eastward,  we  drive  through  some  open  and  enclosed 
pastures — quite  dense  in  some  places  with  live  oak  and  other  tim- 
ber, passing  some  fine  wheat  and  barley  fields.  We  come  to  Mr. 
Titus'  ranch  or  farm.  To  this  gentleman  my  old  friend  Mr.  Geo. 
O.  Tiffany  had  given  me  a  note  of  introduction.  Mr.  Titus  was 
at  home  and  gave  us  a  cordial  welcome.  He  came  from  Hamburg, 
Erie  County,  N.  Y.,  nine  years  ago,  and  bought  a  portion  of  what  is 
his  present  farm  of  230  acres.  He  is  himself  an  able-bodied  and 
hard-working  man.  And  an  overlook  of  his  place  and  a  prolonged 
conversation  with  him  was  most  satisfactory.  The  following  are 
some  items  given  me  by  him,  which  will  show  something  of  farm- 
ing in  Southern  California. 

Mr.  Titus  has  3,650  orange  trees  in  bearing,  1,500  lemon  trees, 
1,200  lime  trees,  besides  apricots,  peaches,  pears,  pomegranates, 
walnuts,  olives,  and  apples,  to  the  number  of  250,  and  six  and  a  half 
acres  of  grapes.  He  will  realize  from  his  oranges  and  lemons  alone 
this  year  not  less  than  $25,000  or  $30,000.'  He  took  for  his 
grapes,  just  as  they  came  from  the  vines  last  year,  something  over 
$1,000.  He  raises  corn,  barley  and  wheat  at  pleasure.  He  has 
water  in  abundance  for  irrigating  his  entire  farm.  I  suppose  this 
farm  would  be  valued  as  high  as  $80,000.  I  must  not  pass  Mr. 
Titus  without  speaking  of  the  hospitality  extended  to  us  by  his  two 
accomplished  daughters,  in' their  pleasant  home. 

From  Mr.  Titus'  we  drove  to  the  extensive  establishment  of  L. 
J.  Rose,  whom  we  found  at  home,  and  from  whom  we  learned  the 
following  facts:  He  occupies  1,900  acres  of  land ;  upon  this 
land  are  7,000  orange  trees,  fifteen  years  old  ;  500  English  walnut 
trees,  reasonably  remunerative ;  besides  apples,  lemons,  olives, 
figs,  etc.,  which  don't  pay,  and  510  acres  of  grapes.  He  is  the 
greatest  vintner  in  this  country,  and  perhaps  anywhere.  Last 
year  he  manufactured  220,000  gallons  of  wine  and  bought  90,000 
gallons,  and  manufactured  47,000  gallons  of  brandy.  Beside  his 
own  grapes,  he  bought  the  grapes  from  106  other  vineyards.  Mr. 
Rose  came  from  Keokuk,  Iowa,  nineteen  years  ago,  and  is  an  edu- 
cated German.  He  has  planned  this  establishment  and  brought  it 
to  its  present  high  state  of  perfection  by  his  own  genius.  I  have 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  55 

never  seen  better  husbandry  than  his  place  shows.  He  has  at  times 
been  heavily  in  debt,  but  it  is  said  that  he  now  has  the  means  of 
paying  it  off,  while  his  income  is  steadily  increasing. 

From  Rose's  we  drove  on  three  miles  to  Baldwin's.  This  man, 
who  is  the  owner  of  the  Baldwin  Hotel  at  San  Francisco  and  one 
of  the  California  millionaires,  has  in  his  ranch  fifty-six  thousand 
acres  of  land.  We  drive  for  miles  through  it.  Baldwin  has  ele- 
gant houses,  stables,  fishponds,  immense  fields  of  oranges  and 
other  fruits,  wheat  fields,  etc.  But  he  is  an  -absentee  farmer.  It 
was  interesting  to  g>  through  his  extensive  grounds,  drives  and 
parks,  but  his  place  lacks  the  culture  which  personal  attention 
affords,  as  shown  in  the  places  of  Titus  and  Rose. 

My  advice  to  Baldwin  is  to  cut  up  his  vast  tract  of  land  and  sell 
it  out  to  small  farmers.     The  holding  of  these  extensive  bodies  of 
land  is  an  evil  in  any  country,  and  a  crying  one  in  California. 

We  are  fifteen  miles  from  home.  The  heads  of  "  Dundee  "and 
"  Sarah  Ann  "  are  turned  thither,  and  they  are  bidden  to  go,  and 
they  go. 

The  Valley  of  San  Gabriel  is  a  fit  appendage  to  the  "home  of 
the  angels." 

I  need  to  say  that  I  find  our  former  worthy  fellow  citizens,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Geo.  O.  Tiffany  in  good  health  and  pleasantly  situated. 

E.  D   H. 


LETTER  XI. 


Santa  Barbara — Beautiful  Scenery — Big  Farms — Enormous 

Crops. 


SANTA  BARBARA,  Cal. ,  March  i,  1880. 

In  my  last,  written  from  Los  Angeles,  I  explained  to  you  the 
meaning  of  that  name — that  it  was  the  "home  of  the  angels,"  and 
gave  my  opinion  that  so  far  as  I  knew  and  could  judge  the  angels 
made  an  excellent  selection  for  their  home.  But  since  I  have  come 
up  here  to  Santa  Barbara  I  am  not  quite  clear  that  they  made  the 
best  choice.  The  people  of  Santa  Barbara  say,  without  a  dissent- 
ing voice,  that  they  did  not,  and  I  am  half  inclined  to  their 
opinion,  and  still  I  cannot  quite  settle  down  to  it,  because  I  dare 
not  set  up  my  opinion  against  so  astute  a  judgment  as  that  of 
Gabriel,  who  doubtless  must  have  been  of  the  number  at  Los 
Angeles.  And  I  cannot  doubt  that  with  his  facility  and  power  of 
locomotion  he  must  have  looked  over  this  place  before  settling  at 
the  other. 

But  be  all  that  as  it  may,  this  undoubtedly  is  to  be  set  down  as 
a  singularly  charming  spot.  The  conditions  for  securing  a  soft  and 
delightful  climate  seem  perfect.  The  sea  from  a  point  forty  miles 
to  the  west  of  Santa  Barbara  turns  in  its  trend  and  runs  almost  due 
east  for  a  distance  of  fifty  or  sixty  miles.  A  wall  of  mountains 
from  3,000  to  4,000  feet  high  follow  this  trend  of  the  sea  along 
the  entire  distance,  standing  back  from  the  shore  from  three  to  six 
miles,  leaving  a  bench  of  land  diversified  with  hills  and  swelling 
lands  of  charming  mould,  on  some  of  which  grow  some  of  the 
grandest  evergreen  oaks  that  human  eye  ever  beheld. 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  5  7 

It  is  in  one  of  the  choicest  of  spots  on  this  elongated  beach  that 
Santa  Barbara  is  located.  Just  behind  the  town  on  the  north 
stands  Monte  Cita,  stretching  along  two  miles  to  the  east  from  the 
old  Mission.  This  is  covered  with  freshest  green  ;  residences  dot- 
ting it  here  and  there  on  its  side  and  top. 

Immediately  beyond  rise  the  bald,  rugged  mountains,  gashed 
and  slitted,  leaving  their  sharp  peaks  pointing  high  in  the  heavens. 
There  is  nothing  on  these  mountains  save  some  patches  of  chap- 
parel  and  sage  brush. 

On  the  south  stretches  along  just  on  the  shore  of  the  sea  a 
grass  and  vineyard  covered  hill,  very  handsome  in  its  moulding. 
This  high  land  has  a  length  of  three  miles. 

An  admirable  elevation  of  plain  land  lies  between  these  heights, 
of  a  mile  and  a  half  in  width.  At  its  east  end  the  sea  has  turned 
north  and  pushed  itself  toward  the  mountains,  making  with  the 
islands  lying  off  in  the  distance  an  excellent  and  safe  roadstead 
or  harbor. 

To  the  west  this  table  of  land  runs  out  indefinitely.  In  this 
valley  and  on  this  plain  is  located  the  charming  little  city  of  Santa 
Barbara,  with  its  handsome  houses  and  unparalleled  gardens — to- 
day all  laden  with  roses  and  calla  lilies,  geraniums  and  every  other 
species  of  gorgeous  flower.  It  has  large  and  commodious  hotels, 
blocks  of  brick  stores,  spacious  and  handsome  churches  and  school- 
houses,  and  a  college.  I  do  not  know  its  population,  but  judge 
it  to  be,  say,  four  or  five  thousand.  There  is  a  sprinkling  of  the 
old  Mexican  population  and  some  Chinamen  here,  but  the  bulk  of 
the  people  are  Eastern,  with  many  from  New  England.  The 
Mayor  of  the  town  is  the  son  of  Joseph  Chamberlain  who,  with 
his  brother  Selah,  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  early  construction 
of  railroads  in  Wisconsin — a  fine  gentleman. 

A  public  library  is  maintained  and  a  club  of  sixty  gentlemen. 
Mr.  Ford,  an  artist  from  Chicago,  has  a  private  picture  gallery 


58  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

mostly  of  California  landscapes  which  would  be   a  credit  to  any 
public  gallery. 

It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  the  topographical  conditions  are  such 
as  to  make  almost  a  perpetual  summer  at  Santa  Barbara.  Do  you 
ask  if  at  the  highest  altitude  of  the  sun  the  heat  does  not  become 
insufferable?  A  negative  is  given  to  the  question  on  account  of 
the  contiguity  of  the  ocean,  which  daily  tempers  this  heat  in  sum- 
mer, and  in  like  manner,  combined  with  the  action  of  the  sun, 
prevents  frost  in  winter. 

For  persons  afflicted  with  weak  lungs  and  any  tendency  to  pul- 
monary diseases  there  are  many  places  in  Southern  California  that 
will  give  them  delightful  relief.  This  place,  especially,  will  always 
be  resorted  to  with  great  satisfaction,  not  only  on  account  of  its 
health-giving  blessings,  but  for  the  beauty  of  its  scenery  and  the 
high  social,  religious  and  intellectual  character  of  its  population. 

Conspicuous  among  the  many  interesting  persons  it  has  been 
my  pleasure  to  meet  in  California,  is  Col  W.  W.  Hollister,  of 
this  place.  Shall  I  tell  you  his  story  ?  He  is  now,  say,  fifty. 
He  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  a  graduate  of  Kenyon  College.  He  came 
to  California  among  its  early  immigrants.  He  saw  what  could 
be  done  with  sheep,  and,  leaving  gold  hunting  and  every  other 
pursuit,  he  returned  to  Ohio,  borrowed  $7,000,  bought  a  flock  of 
2,000  of  the  best  blooded  sheep  he  could  find,  and  started  with 
them  for  California.  He  reached  Salt  Lake  City  at  the  beginning 
of  the  first  winter,  and  there  wintered.  In  the  spring  he  pushed 
on,  taking  a  southerly  route  through  Arizona,  and  entering  South- 
ern California,  came  to  this  place  on  his  journey  to  some  point  as 
near  San  Francisco  as  he  could  get  and  find  pasturage  for  his  flock. 
When  he  arrived  here,  his  flock  had  diminished  from  two  thousand 
to  eight  hundred.  At  a  point  fifteen  miles  west  by  north  from  this 
place  he  came  to  a  spot  in  this,  then,  wilderness,  where  he  laid  him- 
self down  with  his  flock  to  rest.  It  was  near  the  sea.  Behind  him  lay 
the  Santa  Inez  Mountains.  At  their  feet  were  gently  moulded  foot 
hills,  covered  with  mighty  evergreen  oaks,  presenting  such  a  picture 
of  beauty  as  the  Queen  of  England  never  looked  upon,  while  the  rich 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  59 

plain  land  spread  out  for  five  miles  to  the  ocean.  Here  this  young 
man,  who,  with  such  courage  and  fortitude,  had  come  three  thou- 
sand miles  over  great  rivers  and  fertile  lands,  populous  with  people 
and  many  handed  industries — and  over  vast  and  almost  intermin- 
able plain,  desert  and  mountain -lands  with  scarce  an  inhabitant, 
arose  from  his  rest  and  surveyed  the  scene  around  him  and 
declared  that  it  surpassed  in  all  natural  beauty  anything  his  eyes 
had  ever  before  beheld,  and  then  and  there  made  his  vow  that 
should  he  be  prospered  in  his  work  and  life  he  would  here  come 
and  found  his  home. 

Waking  up  his  sheep  and  bicfding  them  follow,  he  wended  his 
way  toward  the  great  centre  of  California — viz.,  San  Francisco, 
and  in  that  vicinity  (Monterey  County)  he  settled.  For  two  years 
he  herded  his  sheep  alone,  staying  with  them  by  day  and  by  night. 
For,  as  he  told  me,  "  I  was  too  poor  to  hire  anybody  to  help  me." 
Now,  settled  in  their  abiding  place,  aud  rested,  the  flock  throve 
and  multiplied  apace.  In  time  a  few  hundred  ewes  were  added — 
less  than  five  hundred — and  such  was  the  attention  given  by  the 
master  to  his  flock,  so  well  were  they  guarded  and  treated,  that, 
while  other's  flocks  were  diseased  and  starved  and  died,  his  con- 
tinued in  good  condition,  and  in  a  few  years  reached  eighty  thou- 
sand head. 

Mr.  Hollister  confined  himself  strictly  to  his  sheep  business, 
and,  as  he  puts  it,  each  one  of  his  first  flock  of  eight  hundred  head 
earned  him  $1,000.  His  wealth  grew  apace — and  nine  years  ago 
he  came  back  to  that  spot  which  was  so  beautiful  to  his  youthful 
poetic  nature,  and  purchased  of  that  land  nearly  four  thousand 
acres,  and  has  made  of  that  spot  an  earthly  paradise  indeed. 

It  is  named  Glen  Anna,  the  latter  part  of  the  name  being  that 
of  his  accomplished  wife,  who  dispenses  the  hospitality  of  her 
beautiful  home — as  we  had  occasion  to  konw — in  a  charming  man- 
ner. Upon  this  land  Col.  H.  has  planted  within  the  nine  years 
since  he  took  it  in  a  state  of  nature,  the  following  fruit- 
bearing  trees  :  25,000  almond  ;  3,000  English  walnut ;  600  olive  ; 


60  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

1,200  orange  ;  1,000  lemon  ;  and  500  lime  trees.  Besides  these, 
the  number  of  cypress,  pine,  eucalyptus  (an  evergreen  from  Aus- 
tralia of  great  merit),  and  other  ornamental  and  useful  trees,  is 
almost  unlimited. 

The  day  we  were  there  the  whole  25,000  almond  trees  were  in 
full  bloom.  I  should  say  that  the  blossom  was  much  like  the  peach 
— somewhat  whiter.  It  was  a  remarkable  sight  to  look  over  this 
immense  forest  of  blooming  trees.  He  expects  that  his  almond 
trees,  which  are  just  now  coming  into  bearing,  will  produce  for 
each  tree  at  least  one  dollar's  worth  of  almonds.  As  a  farmer,  he 
raises  wheat,  barley,  corn,  buckwheat,  and  potatoes.  Wheat  has 
gone  as  high  as  fifty-two  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  1,800  bushels  of 
sweet  potatoes  have  been  taken  from  one  acre  of  land»  Five  crops 
of  barley  have  been  taken  from  one  plowing,  and  some  of  the 
land  will  reproduce  from  its  own  seeding  perpetually. 

Besides  crop  farming,  he  keeps  large  flocks  (or  bands  as  they  are 
called  in  this  country)  of  sheep,  cattle,  horses  and  swine,  and 
believes  in,  and  practices,  diversified  farming. 

Upon  the  place  are  two  large  centres,  one  called  the  Ranch 
House,  where  the  foreman  lives,  and  where  are  the  large  barns  and 
out-buildings,  and  where  the  chief  business  of  the  place  is  con- 
ducted. The  other  place  up  the  Glen  and  under  the  mountain,  is 
the  family  home.  At  each  of  these  centres  are  gardens  in  splen- 
did cultivation,  filled  with  all  manner  of  beautiful  flowers.  This 
comes  of  having  a  cultivated  woman  at  the  head  of  these  affairs, 
learned  in  all  the  lore  of  horticulture.  From  one  of  her  beds  of 
calla  lillies  in  the  open  garden  last  Easter  she  cut  fifteen  hundred 
flowers,  and  their  absence  would  hardly  be  noticed.  Think  of 
that,  you  ladies  who  wait  so  long  and  labor  so  patiently  to  secure 
a  single  flower,  and  when  out,  call  in  all  your  neighbors  to  behold 
the  sight ! 

Col.  Hollister  is  not  only  thus  a  great  and  enterprising  farmer, 
but  he  has  given  a  helping  hand  to  all  the  principal  improvements 
at  Santa  Barbara.  Hotels,  wharves,  churches,  schools  and  hand- 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific :  6 1 

some  blocks  of  buildings  have  all  received  a  helping  hand  from  his 
munificence.  Besides,  he  has  found  time  to  promote  and  secure 
the  passage  of  many  laws  in  aid  of  agriculture,  and  written  with 
much  ability  and  at  length  upon  the  relations  of  capital  and  labor. 
He  has  honored  himself  and  his  State  in  these  directions,  and  is 
deserving  of  much  praise  at  the  hands  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

Here  at  Santa  Barbara  we  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  our  friend 
and  neighbor  Col.  Yates  and  his  son  Arthur,  and  were  inmates  of 
the  hospitable  home  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Phelps,  all  combining  to 
make  pleasant  our  stay  at  this  delightful  spot.  Wherever  else  yon 
go,  or  do  not  go,  fail  not  when  you  come  to  California  to  visit 
Santa  Barbara.  E  D.  H. 


LETTER  X/7. 


Back  to  San    Francisco,    Through  the  San   Joaquin   Valley  — 
Homes  of  California  Millionaires — Enormous  Farms. 


SAN  FRANCISCO,  Cal.,  March  15,  1880. 

My  last  letter  was  sent  you  from  Santa  Barbara — the  land  of  sun 
and  beauty.  From  that  place  we  made  our  way  by  eighty  miles 
of  good  honest  staging,  conducted  along  this  coast  by  a  stage  com- 
pany of  which,  if  I  mistake  not,  Major  Warren,  of  Albany,  in  our 
State,  is  a  member.  From  Santa  Barbara  to  Buena  Ventura,  a 
distance  of  thirty  miles,  the  journey  was  made  upon  the  beach  of 
the  sea  with  the  waves  rolling  betimes  well  up  upon  the  horses' 
legs  and  the  wheels  of  the  coach.  My  little  grandson,  Neddie, 
seeing  the  waves  coming  in  so  stoutly  upon  us,  was  wont  to  cling 
to  his  grandmother  and  otherwise  give  expression  to  his  fears. 

I  rode  with  the  driver  and  he  would  now  turn  away  from  the 
hard  sand,  washed  by  the  waves,  into  the  soft  sand  some  feet 
higher,  just  under  the  foot  of  the  mountain—for  the  mountain 
crowded  the  road  close  to  the  sea  much  of  the  way.  When  I 
asked  him  why  he  turned  thus,  he  replied,  that  just  beyond  where 
he  did  so,  lay  quick  sand  that  would  swamp  us  if  we  ap- 
proached it.  Indeed  !  and  is  your  path  so  treacherous  as  that  ? 
Yes.  But  the  other  day  a  traveler  got  in  there  and  came  near 
destruction.  Well,  then,  let  us  keep  well  away  from  quick  sands 
of  all  kinds,  physical  and  moral,  for  they  are  terrible  indeed  ! 

At  Ventura  we  leave  the  sea  and  drive  northeast  fifty  miles  up 
the  narrow  valley  of  the  Santa  Clara  River  to  Newhall,  where  the 
Southern  Pacific  Railroad  is  reached. 


From  Midland  to  the  Paeifi}.  63 

The  last  twenty-five  miles  of  this  ride  took  us  through  the  wheat 
fields  of  one  man,  H.  M.  Newhall,  of  this  city.  His  ranch  em- 
braces forty-nine  thousand  acres,  much  of  it  to  be  sure  in  moun- 
tain land,  but  along  the  stream  is  much  fine  meadow — and  upon 
these  meadows  stretching  along  this  twenty-five  miles  he  has 
now  in  wheat  ten  thousand  acres',  which  is  looking  very  well,  as 
abundant  rain  has  fallen  in  this  region.  At  the  station  Mr.  New- 
hall  has  built  a  fine  public  house  in  which  are  a  store  and  offices 
conducted  by  Mr.  Field,  his  foreman  and  partner,  a  cultivated 
and  practical  youngerly  man  from  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Field  gave 
me  a  splendid  ride  through  the  wheat  fields  and  pleasant  forests 
around.  All  was  system,  order  and  excellence  under  his  adminis- 
tration. The  hotel  here  is  warmed  by  open  fire  places,  and  Mr. 
Newhall  (who  is  a  Massachusetts  man),  has  shown  his  Yankee  pedi- 
gree by  building  a  fireplace  after  the  style  of  his  great  grandfather, 
six  feet  wide,  four  feet  high,  and  three  feet  deep.  This  is  located 
in  the  great  sitting  room  into  which  the  stage  passengers  arrive  and 
from  which  they  depart.  In  this  fire  place,  as  we  came,  was  an 
immense  back  log  glowing  with  a  red  heat,  with  a  great  bed 
of  coals  in  front,  and  was  it  not  a  glory  indeed  after  a  long  ride  in 
the  cold  night  air  to  come  before  it? 

Besides  this  ranch,  Mr.  Newhall  owns  two  others  of  equal  size, 
making  him  the  owner  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres  of 
land.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  making  this  gentleman's  acquaintance 
in  this  city!  He  has  long  conducted  the  auctioneer's  business,  and 
is  reputed  to  be  very  wealthy.  Indeed,  he  told  me  that  by 
a  favorable  turn  in  some  of  his  business  affairs  a  few  years  since  he 
had  so  much  money  that  he  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  it,  and 
as  he  did  not  want  stocks,  purchased  these  lands.  I  enquired  if 
they  had  proved  profitable.  No— they  had  not. 

One  of  the  great  evils  of  California  is  the  holding  of  these  vast 
bodies  of  land  by  a  few  people. 

I  venture  to  suggest  to  Mr.  Newhall  that  in  the  presence  of  so 
much  disturbance  of  the  labor  question,  and  in  the  presence  of  so 


64  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

many  homeless  people,  he  could  do  no  better  thing  for  himself  and 
for  them,  than  to  cut  up  these  lands,  so  far  as  he  might  be  able  to 
do  so,  and  sell  them  to  actual  settlers.  The  truth  is  that  the  larger 
proportion  of  the  area  of  California  is  mountainous  and  may  not  be 
reduced  to  arable  land.  But  there  remains  much  that  could  be 
added  to  the  present  farming  land  of  the  State,  and  it  would  be 
far  better  for  the  interest  of  all  concerned,  if  such  owners  as  Mr. 
Newhall  would  parcel  out  their  lands  and  sell  them  to  actual  own- 
ers and  occupants. 

From  Newhall  we  pass  over  the  dreadful  Mojave  Desert  for  fifty 
or  sixty  miles,  and  as  much  more  of  broken  mountain  country,  and 
drop  into  the  upper  end  of  the  Waukeen  Valley  (San  Joaquin)  and 
have  a  splendid  drive  down  through  its  wide-spreading  wheat  fields 
to  where  it  joins  the  waters  of  the  bay.  We  had  to  pass  through 
this  widest  and  best  valley  in  California,  when  we  went  south,  in 
the  night,  and  thus  lost  a  sight  of  it.  But  now  we  came  upon  it 
in  the  early  morning,  and  it  was  radiant  with  beauty  along  its  entire 
length.  Wheat,  wheat,  wheat,  upon  either  hand  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  and  all  looking  in  fine  condition.  A  common  com- 
plaint made  of  this  San  Joaquin  Valley  is  that,  as  a  rule,  it  is  too 
dry,  and  there  is  not  sufficient  water  to  irrigate  it  except  in  limited 
portions.  To-day  the  promise  is  good  for  fine  crops  this  season 
throughout  its  wide  extent.  ^ 

It  is  along  the  west  side  of  San  Francisco  Bay  that  a  number  of 
the  millionaires  of  the  city  have  gone  to  make  their  summer  homes. 
It  is  a  handsome  bench  of  land  lying  between  the  water  and  the 
coast  range  of  mountains  or  high  hills,  with  groves  of  evergreen 
oaks  of  much  splendor  at  certain  spots.  Ralston  was  the  first  to 
lead  off  in  establishing  these  splendid  places,  and  built  "Belmont," 
twenty-five  miles  away  from  the  city.  Here  in  his  time  he  dis- 
pensed a  princely  hospitality,  and  any  stranger  visiting  California, 
bringing  fair  letters  of  introduction,  was  taken  to  his  home, 
without  money,  and  without  price,  in  magnificent  turnouts,  and 
entertained  in  the  most  courtly  and  generous  manner. 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  65 

D.  O.  Mills  followed,  and  built  an  elegant  place  seventeen  miles 
from  the  city.  But  at  Menlo  Park,  thirty-three  miles  down,  a  trio 
of  these  millionaires  have  tried  to  see  what  they  could  do.  Nature, 
by  hill  and  dale,  and  sweet  meadow  land,  tried  her  hand  at  beauty, 
and  succeeded  well.  Then  followed  Senator  Latham,  and  built 
one  of  the  most  tasteful  mansions  and  surrounded  it  with  such 
beautiful  ornamentation  that  it  may  challenge  anything  at  home  or 
abroad  to  surpass  it.  It  is  said  that  one  and  a  quarter  millions  of 
dollars  went  into  the  place.  But  oh,  the  vanity  of  riches.  Latham 
is  a  bankrupt  and  has  left  this  home  and  the  State.  He  is  a  cul- 
tured and  high  class  man. 

Next  follows  Stanford,  the  President  of  the  Central  Pacific,  and 
a  former  resident  of  Port  Washington.  He  has  a  farm  of  some 
thousands  of  acres,  and  maintains  a  stud  of  three  hundred 
horses,  some  of  them  valued  at  many  thousands  of  dollars.  His 
house  is  not  much,  but  his  grounds,  his  drives,  his  fences  and  out- 
buildings are  on  a  grand  scale  and  are  in  fine  order.  He  is  spoken 
of  by  his  neighbors  as  a  worthy  citizen. 

Next  follows  Flood,  of  Bonanza  fame.  His  grounds  are  equally 
extensive  and  are  covered  with  many  fine  trees.  But  the  land  is 
flat  and  monotonous.  He  is  just  now  having  a  house  built  which 
is  of  immense  proportions,  and  I  should  say  that  he  had  given 
carte  blanche  to  all  the  architects  in  the  country  to  see  how  many 
peaks,  and  points,  and  pinnacles,  and  crinkles  they  could  get  on  to 
it.  I  would  call  it  a  shoddy  affair, — the  whole  arrangement  a  show 
of  money,  unaccompanied  with  taste  or  true  art.  Besides  these 
splendid  places,  there  are  many  minor  ones  along  this  road,  com- 
bining beauty  and  good  taste,  and,  though  lesser  in  show  and  size, 
are  doubtless  happier  homes. 

Speaking  of  the  millionaires  of  California,  their  number,  so  far 
as  I  can  learn,  is  not  large.  They  are  made  up  of  about  five  of  the 
mining  fraternity  and  about  the  same  number  of  the  Pacific  Rail- 
road men.  Of  the  former  stand  in  the  list  Flood,  O'Brien, 
Mackay,  Fair,  and  perhaps  one  other.  Of  this  list  O'Brien  is  dead. 
His  estate  was  inventoried  to  be  worth  about  $10,000,000. 


66  Front  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

These  men  are  all  Irishmen  from  the  common  walks  of  their 
countrymen.  Among  the  railroad  millionaires  are  Stanford, 
Huntington,  Crocker,  Hopkins,  and  one  or  two  others  whose 
names  I  do  not  recall.  The  average  wealth  of  all  these  men  is  put 
at  $10,000,000  each,  and  upwards,  by  the  speech  of  people. 

Of  the  Flood,  O'Brien,  Mackay  and  Fair  ring  much  complaint 
is  made  of  the  conduct  of  affairs  as  managers  of  the  Comstock 
Consolidated  Mines,  and  suits  are  commenced  against  them  for 
the  recovery  of  money  belonging  to  stockholders,  and  on  this 
account  the  O'Brien  estate  is  not  distributed.  These  men  show 
their  wealth  in  sumptuous  living,  and  are  not  known  as  doing 
anything  in  the  way  of  public  benefaction. 

The  railroad  men  above  named  were  originally  a  set  of  plain 
merchants  doing  business  at  Sacramento,  who  were  the  first  to 
comprehend  and  to  take  hold  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  on  this  end, 
and  to  boldly  step  forth  to  promote  its  accomplishment.  Their 
courage,  sagacity  and  perseverance  is  worthy  of  all  admiration. 
Not  only  did  this  set  of  men  build  this  end  of  the  Pacific  road  for 
800  miles,  but  they  have  run  excellent  railroads  over  the  most  of 
the  State,  and  all  these  roads  are  first-class  and  conducted  in  the 
very  best  manner.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  scoldjng  about  the 
monopolistic  character  of  this  great  corporation,  and  probably 
not  without  reason.  At  the  same  time^  it  must  be  set  down  as  a 
great  benefaction  to  the  State. 

These  men  in  turn  make  a  good  deal  of  show  of  their  money  in 
the  way  of  fine  house  building.  Hopkins,  particularly,  who  is 
credited  as  having  been  the  clearest  headed  of  them  all,  and  who 
all  his  life  had  lived  in  almost  narrow  circumstances,  observing  the 
sharpest  economy,  finally  erected  an  immense  palace,  some  say  at  a 
cost  of  $1,500,000,  on  the  apex  of  one  of  the  highest  hills  over- 
looking San  Francisco.  The  outlook  from  it  is  truly  magnificent. 
But  hardly  had  this  enterprising  man  completed  his  castle  before 
he  was  called  to  close  accounts  with  earth.  A  widow  without 
children  occupies  the  place,  and  the  house  stands  rather  a  monu- 
ment of  the  man's  folly  than  otherwise. 


From  Midland  to  the  Padfic.  67 

I  cannot  learn  that  any  of  these  men  have  done,  or  intend  to 
do,  any  philanthropic  act  for  the  promotion  of  any  great  public 
interest  How  much  better  if,  instead  of  putting  a  million  and  a 
half  of  dollars  into  a  dwelling  that  is  not  worth  ten  cents  on  a 
dollar,  and  is  only  a  by-word  in  the  mouths  of  sensible  men,  Mr. 
Hopkins,  like  Amos  Lawrence,  and  Mr.  Vassar,  and  Mr.  Cornell, 
and  Judge  Packard,  had  put  'it  into  some  institution  of  learning 
and  science,  that,  like  a  river,  would  have  run  on  forever  to  bless 
the  people  of  this  interesting  State,  where  he  had  gained  his  own 
great  pecuniary  prosperity  !  When  will  rich  men  learn,  what  are 
the  higher  and  better  uses  of  money?  It  is  this  selfish  and  baser 
use  of  wealth  that  gives,  in  part,  to  the  Denis  Kearneys  food  for 
agitation.  E.  D.  H. 


LETTER 


The    Great   Sonoma    Valley  —  Petrified  Forests  —  The   Geysers  — 
The  People   Who  Live  in  the  Beautiful  Valley. 


SACRAMENTO,  March  25,  1880. 

The  Geysers  are  located  in  the  Sonoma  range  of  mountains, 
about  one  hundred  miles  due  north  from  San  Francisco.  Two 
routes  lead  to  them ;  one  up  the  west  side  of  the  range,  along  the 
Sonoma  valley,  and  the  other  up  the  east  side  by  the  Napa  Valley. 
A  railroad  goes  up  each  of  these  valleys.  From  the  end  of  the 
road  leading  up  the  Sonoma  Valley,  the  staging  into  the  moun- 
tains is  sixteen  miles  to  this  natural  phenomenon,  while  from  the 
eastern  or  Napa  side  it  is  just  twice  that  distance.  It  is  on  this 
latter  route  that  Foss  lives,  the  most  celebrated  "whip"  perhaps 
in  the  country,  and  still  conducts  passengers  from  Calistoga  at  the 
end  of  the  railroad  along  this  thirty  two  miles  of  mountain  pass  to 
the  Geysers.  He,  himself,  now  no  logger  drives.  A  few  years 
since  he  was  driving  his  six  in  hand  with  some  young  fiery  horses 
in  his  team  dashing  along  the  mountain  road,  when  one  of  his 
reins  gave  away,  and  his  team  became  unmanageable  and  dashed 
his  coach  in  pieces  and  killed  a  lady  passenger,  since  which  time, 
as  the  story  goes,  he  has  not  driven,  but  has  surrendered  this  office 
to  his  son. 

Kennedy  is  the  owner  of  the  stage  line  from  Cloverdale  at  the 
terminus  of  the  Sonoma  Valley  Railroad,  and  drives  his  own  teams. 
In  the  season  of  travel  these  two  stage  lines  and  the  railroads  make 
regular  running  connections,  so  that  the  traveler  may  make  the 
circuit  ever  so  nicely,  going  up  the  one  valley  and  coming  down 
the  other.  But  now  there  are  no  running  arrangements  established 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  69 

for  going  into  the  mountains.  It  is  too  early,  and  doubtful  if  the 
roads  are  open.  But,  receiving  the  assurances  from  Mr.  Hughes, 
General  Manager  of  the  Sonoma  Valley  Road  (San  Francisco  & 
Northern  Pacific),  that  the  way  was  certainly  open  from  the  end 
of  his  road,  and  the  distance  by  stage  but  sixteen  miles,  this  route 
was  adopted. 

It  was  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  when  we  bade  adieu  to  San 
Francisco.  We  had  said  good  bye  to  our  many  pleasant  acquaint- 
ances made  in  that  wonderful  city.  .  The  day  was  bright  as  are  all 
the  days  of  this  sunny  country — yes  indeed !  How  sunny.  In  the 
seventy  days  we  have  been  in  California  there  have  been  but  eight 
rainy  and  cloudy  days,  and  this  they  call  the  rainy  season.  From 
this  time  on  they  expect  but  little  or  no  rain  until  November.  The 
possibilities  of  production  from  the  land  particularly  by  reason  of 
the  continued  fine  weather,  are  very  great,  and  yet  I  think,  upon 
the  whole,  the  present  population  make  but  poor  use  of  these 
advantages. 

In  making  this  journey  to  the  Geysers  by  the  Sonoma  route, 
thirty-six  miles  of  it  is  made  by  steamer  along  the  northern  prong 
of  the  glorious  San  Francisco  Bay.  We  step  on  to  the  Donahue 
steamer  near  the  foot  of  Market  street,  and  away  we  go.  The 
afternoon  is  still  and  calm;  the  water  is  smooth  as  glass.  We  pass 
great  ships  lying  at  anchor  waiting  for  wheat  cargoes  to  Liverpool. 
This  Bay  of  San  Francisco  could  easily  harbor  in  safety  all  the 
ships  in  the  world.  At  our  right  lies  Vallejo,  up  another  prong  of 
the  bay  into  which  comes  the  Napa  river.  At  this  place  the  Gov- 
ernment has  a  naval  station  employing  a  large  force  of  men,  and 
to  which  point  rendezvous  all  the  ships  of  the  Government  for 
repair  and  outfit,  I  suppose,  on  this  coast. 

On  our  left  is  San  Quentin,  where  stands  out  conspicuously  the 
State's  prison  with  its  thousand  inmates,  and  I  'have  heard  it  said 
composed  mostly  of  young  men — sad  thonght!  God  speed  the 
day  when  virtue  shall  stand  in  the  place  of  vice.  Young  man,  go 
to  your  Maker  and  ask  Him  for  help,  that  you  may  withstand  the 
power  of  the  wicked  One. 

Further  on  upon  our  left  is  San  Rafeal,  with  its  three  thousand 


70  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

inhabitants,  sweetly  nestled  in  a  cove  under  the  high  green  hills. 
Its  white  houses  and  edifices  looked  in  the  distance  like  a  flock  of 
doves  cuddling  in  some  cozy  nook.  We  speed  our  way.  The  Bay 
narrows,  it  is  now  but  a  mile  wide.  On  either  side  the  hills  shine 
in  the  afternoon  sun  in  their  gorgeous  garments  of  emerald.  Great 
flocks  of  ducks  cover  the  water,  and  they  are  so  tame  that  the 
steamer  comes  close  upon  them  ere  they  deem  it  expedient  to  rise. 
Gulls  in  large  numbers  wheel  and  circle  and  call  perpetually  upon 
the  scullion  to  throw  over  his  Qffal,  that  they  can  ha*ve  their  sup- 
per, and  when  he  does  so,  what  a  darting  down  and  what  a  scuffle 
they  have  in  the  water  for  the  precious  morsels. 

We  are  now  in  a  river,  and  then  run  for  a  mile  or  two  circling 
along  through  the  marshy  meadows,  till  we  reach  Donahue,  a 
small  village  pleasantly  situated,  where  we  meet  the  railroad,  and 
are  off  for  a  sixty  or  seventy  mile  ride  up  the  Sonoma  Valley  to 
Cloverdale.  We  pass  Petaluma  with  its  six  or  seven  thousand 
inhabitants.  Fifteen  miles  beyond,  Santa  Rosa,  of  equal  size. 
The  valley  is  beautiful,  and  every  where  under  fine  cultivation.  But 
now  the  night  shuts  down  and  we  reach  Cloverdale,  and  sleep  at 
Herr  Dutchman's.  (I  have  forgotten  his  name.)  He  keeps  quite 
a  good  hotel.  He  is  well-acquainted  with  Milwaukee  lager,  and 
knows  how  to  charge  his  guests  for  his  accommodations  a  full 
price. 

Bright  and  early  Kennedy  is  on  hand  with  his  strong,  good 
horses  and  coach  for  the  Geysers.  He  gets  into  my  confidence  at 
once — not  only  on  account  of  his  handsome  and  manly  bearing, 
but  he  is  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  my  native  State;  and,  if  you 
ever  noticed  it,  the  New  Hampshire  people,  as  a  rule,  are  a  decent 
set.  Do  you  know  if  this  is  really  true  what  has  been  said  of  the 
Switzer,  that,  taken  away  from  his  native  Alps,  and  set  down  in  a 
plain  country,  he  dies  of  homesickness  ?  There  is  something  very 
fascinating  about  mountain  scenery.  They  who  live  among  it  are 
doubtless  hardier  and  stronger  physically  and  mentally — other 
things  being  equal— than  they  who  live  in  the  plain  land.  Did 
you  ever  count  up  and  see  whether  more  and  better  poets  did  not 
come  from  the  mountain  than  from  the  plain  ?  Try  it,  and  let  us 


From  Midland  tt>  the  Pacific.  7 1 

know.     I  am  under  the  impression  that  the  mountains  make  the 
poets. 

Well,  we  start.  We  are  the  only  passengers  Kennedy  has,  and 
are  the  very  first  visitors  to  the  Geysers  in  1880.  Leaving  the 
pretty  village  of  Cloverdale  we  drive  for  a  little  while  by  culti- 
vated farms,  on  the  Russian  River,  and  soon  enter  the  Pluton 
Canon,  in  the  bottom  of  which  flows  one  of  the  clearest  and  full- 
est brooks  or  small  rivers  I  have  seen  in  California.  This  stream 
would  do  honor  to  New  Hampshire.  It  bounds,  it  dashes,  it  foams, 
it  flashes,  now  gently,  now  noisily. 

The  mountain  ribs  and  spurs  shoot  sharply  down  to  the  little 
river,  pushing  it  now  this  way  and  now  that.  The  road  has  been 
built  at  much  expense.  Now  it  hangs  along  the  precipice  high 
above  the  dashing  stream.  It  is  very  narrow.  Be  careful,  Ken- 
nedy, if  we  go  off  here  it  is  all  day  with  us.  And  thus  we  wind 
in  and  out  along  the  crags  and  into  dark  ravines.  The  snows  and 
rains  of  winter  make  sad  havoc  with  these  mountain  roads.  Slides 
of  earth  and  stone  come  down  from  above  and  carry  away  whole 
sections.  Many  of  these  spots  had  just  been  repaired,  and  I  was 
quite  jealous  of  their  solidity  lest  the  weight  of  our  horses  and 
coach  might  start  the  new-made  earth,  yet  saturated  with  wet, 
down,  down,  down  into  the  yawning  gulf. 

But  no.  Kennedy  said  it  was  all  secured,  and  so  it  proved,  and 
at  the  end  of  three  hours'  steady  pulling  up  the  mountain  we  came 
safely  to  the  comfortable  hotel  of  the  Geysers,  and  were  cordially 

welcomed  by  Koch,  the  old  guide,  and  by  Mrs.  Sherwood,  the 
charming  little  housekeeper. 

Business  is  business.  It  is  n  o'clock.  The  inmates  of  the  hotel 
are  expecting  Foss  up  from  the  other  side.  .  If  he  should  come,  we 
would  dismiss. Kennedy,  stay  all  night,  and  go  with  Foss  to  Calis- 
toga  and  down  the  Napa  Valley.  But  then  his  coming  is  uncer- 
tain, and  we  must  do  the  Geysers  before  dinner  and  return  with 
Kennedy  to  Cloverdale,  provided,  in  the  mea'ntime  Foss  does  not 
make  his  appearance. 

Between  our  hotel  and  the  mountain  which  forms  what  are 
called  the  Geysers,  runs  the  dashing  Pluton.  The  mountain  from 


72  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

which  the  stream  is  descending  is  directly  before  us.  We  start 
upon  our  journey.  It  is  very  hot.  I  take  off  my  coat  and  go  in 
my  shirt  sleeves,  taking  the  advice  of  Koch,  the  guide,  so  to  do. 
Mrs.  Holton  and  the  little  grandson  are  equipped  as  lightly  as 
possible.  We  descend  deep  from  the  hotel  and  cross  the  Pluton, 
and  at  once  commence  the  ascent  of  the  mountain  in  a  narrow 
canon  amid  sulphurous  odors  and  sissing  boiling  steam. 

For  my  own  part  I  had  not  a  very  distinct  idea  as  to  what  con- 
stituted this  California  wonder.  In  the  old  geographies  the  Iceland 
Geysers  were  laid  down  as  great  streams  of  hot  water  sent  high  in 
air.  But  here  only  steam  is  sent  forth.  We  climb  up  the  steep' 
ascent  and  everywhere  the  earth  is  hot  and  the  steam  is  issuing, 
and  at  certain  points  are  springs  of  boiling  water.  The  odor  of 
infernal  fumes  of  sulphur  and  brimstone  has  given  much  just 
license  to  name  these  sundry  spots  after  his  majesty  the  devil,  as 
for  example — the  '^devil's  teakettle,"  where  is  a  boiling  pool  of 
water  giving  off  a  terrible  odor.  And  then  there  is  the  "devil's 
bake  oven" — and  his  ''medicine  chest,"  where  is  found  Epsom 
salts  and  other  medicines,  and  his  "paint  shop,"  where  are  pig- 
ments of  various  colors,  and  so  on,  which  the  worthy  Mr.  Koch, 
the  guide,  called  off,  and  we  paused  a  moment  to  look  at,  when 
we  tugged  away  up  the  canon  of  the  mountain  amid  the  steam  and 
the  fumes,  and  the  terrible  heat  and  noisy  thundering  below.  At 
the  end  of  three-fourths  of  a  mile  we  come  to  the  boundary  of  the 
territory  comprising  the  Geysers,  when  happily  we  reach  a  resting 
place,  which  was  much  needed.  Perspiration  was  bursting  from 
every  pore,  and  a  weariness  rarely  experienced  took  hold  of  us. 
After  resting  for  a  little  while  we  descended  by  another  route, 
avoiding  the  hideous  one  through  which  we  came  and  were  soon 
back  to  our  hotel. 

After  an  hour's  visit,  Mrs.  Shelden  spread  the  daintiest  dinner 
that,  that,  that —  Well,  I  cannot  say  how  good  a  dinner  you  ever 
ate,  but  this  was  naost  capital — venison  steak  of  the  first  water, 
ham  and  eggs,  pitchers  of  luscious  cream,  raised  biscuit,  excellent 
bread,  vegetables  of  various  kinds,  apricot  preserves,  and  mince 
pie  "as  was  mince  pie."  Long  life  to  you,  Mistress  Shelden,  who 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  73 

have  such  a  rare  knack  of  making  your  guests  comfortable  and 
happy,  and  may  many  travelers  come  to  the  romantic  spot  where 
stands  your  hospitable  house,  and  find  the  solace,  the  comfort  and 
the  happiness  it  is  calculated  to  impart. 

The  dinner  is  over.  The  bill  is  paid.  A  hearty  farewell  is  given 
to  Koch,  the  guide,  a  man  of  years  and  wide  experience  in  the 
world,  and  to  good-looking,  cheery  and  most  capable  Mis- 
tress Sherwood,  and  we  step  into  friend  Kennedy's  stage  coach, 
and  descend  the  mountain  at  a  rapid  pace,  and  as  the  shadows  of 
the  evening  come  on  we  are  again  at  Cloverdale,  and  under  the 
roof  of  our  worthy  German  landlord,  of  the  United  States  Hotel, 
well  prepared  for  the  slumbers  of  the  night.  But  now  we  have  not 
seen  the  petrified  forest,»another  California  wonder,  which  lies  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Sonoma  Ridge,  and  near  to  Foss'  beat.  This 
wonder,  of  course,  must  be  visited,  or  a  visit  to  California  would 
be  a  failure,  especially  in  the  estimation  of  those  who  run  the 
Petrified  Forest  business. 

Therefore,  we  hop  onto  the  railroad  on  which  we  came  up,  and 
run  back  to  San  Francisco,  and  hop  onto  the  railroad  that  runs  up 
the  Napa  Valley  and  stay  at  Napa  City  the  same  night. 

If  you  ask  every  man  in  the  valley  of  the  Napa  how  it  compares 
in  quality  with  that  of  any  other  valley  in  California,  without  a 
dissenting  voice  they  will  declare  it  far  superior.  That  it  is  a 
valley  of  fine  land  and  fine  cultivation  is  not  to  be  denied.  Large 
amounts  of  grapes  are  raised  here.  These  grapes  chiefly  go  into 
wine  ;  some  go  into  raisins.  The  raising  of  the  raisin  grape  is  to 
become  a  great  industry  in  California.  The  lands  here  are  valued 
at  from  $50  to  $100  per  acre.  Napa  is  a  pleasant  little  city  of 
5,000  inhabitants,  deriving  its  business  from  the  farming  country 
around  it.  I  had  time  before  leaving  in  the  morning  to  look  into 
the  public  school,  which  I  found  to  be  excellent,  testifying  at  once 
to  the  worth  of  the  population  of  the  bright  shiny  city  of  Napa. 

At  10:30  A.  M.  the  train  comes  on  bound  for  Calistoga.  We  are 
aboard  and  fly  along  through  wide  wheat  fields,  vineyards,  plum, 
cherry,  peach,  pear,  apricot  and  almond  orchards.  Many  handsome 
residences  adorn  the  landscape  during  this  beautiful  morning  ride. 


74  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

It  is  high  noon  as  we  coihe  to  the  termination  of  the  road, — the 
small  village  of  Calistoga.  The  valley  has  narrowed  and  the  foot 
hills  now  close  in  upon  the  north,  and  say,  "Stop,  Mr.  Railroad  ;  if 
you  go  much  further,  you  must  butt  your  head  against  our  rocky 
sides." 

It  is  from  here  that  Foss  starts  on  his  thirty-two  miles  mountain 
drive  to  the  Geysers.  The  Petrified  Forest  lies  about  five  miles 
from  this  point  to  the  westward,  in  this  same  range  of  mountains 
in  which  are  the  Geysers,  but  not  on  the  same  road.  Major  John- 
son, keeper  of  the  Calistoga  Hot  Springs  Hotel,  an  "up  and  a 
coming  "  man  for  the  place,  furnishes  us  with  a  span  of  lithe  bay 
horses  and  top  buggy  for  the  drive  to  the  "  Petrified  Forest."  It 
is  a  good  rig.  California  rigs  are  generally,  so.  With  the  woman 
on  my  left  and  the  boy  between,  we  turn  out  of  the  village  and  are 
soon  ascending  the  mountain  along  a  good  road.  The  new  leaves 
are  just  peeping  out.  Many  flowers  bow  and  smile  and  say  Wel- 
come, along  the  road.  By  winding  ways,  now  in  sunlight,  now  in 
deep  shade,  we  make  our  journey  to  the  home  of  Charles  Evans, 
the  owner  and  custodian  of  the  forest.  His  modest  white  Swed- 
ish house  stands  on  an  eminence  in  an  enclosure  with  a  picket 
fence  of  an  acre  of  land.  Behind  his  house  is  another  small  house, 
the  receptacle  of  his  collection  of  mountain  curiosities. 

At  the  entrance  a  sign  notifies  us  that  we  have  reached 
our  destination,  and  gives  the  name  of  the  person  with  whom 
we  have  to  do.  As  we  wheeled  into  the  premises  no  living 
thing  was  in  sight,  and  we  lifted  our  voice,  saying,  "Evans, 
ahoy."  Well,  our  use  of  the  sailor's  term  was  not  so  far  out 
of  the  way.  For  this  turned  out  to  be  Evans'  history.  A 
Swede,  now  sixty-four  years  old,  a  bachelor,  hale  and  hearty, 
of  fine  size  and  make,  as  gentle  and  sweet  in  his  nature  as 
a  woman.  'After  sailing  all  his  life  in  every  sea  he  landed  on  this 
coast  and  took  to  the  mountains  to  find  him  a  homestead  upon 
Government  land,  where  he  could  build  his  cot  and  lay  himself 
down  to  die  in  composure  when  the  time  should  come  for  that 
event.  Here  he  took  320  acres  and  in  clearing  up  his  land  he 
came  upon  this  geological  wonder.  It  consists  of  several  hundred 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  75 

trees  turned  to  stone,  covering  perhaps  one  hundred  acres  ot 
mountain  land,  and  all  lying  with  the  tops  to  the  south,  and  the 
roots  to  the  north.  These  stone  trees  are  mostly  buried  in  thg 
earth.  Evans  has  uncovered  several, — enough  for  specimens. 
The  largest  and  best  specimen  of  them  which  he  has  exhumed  is 
one  seventy  feet  long  with  a  girth  of  thirty  feet.  There  is  but 
little  taper  in  this  length, — showing  that  in  its  glory  as  a  tree  it 
must  have  been  of  immense  height.  All  the  features  of  the  tree 
remain.  The  bark  is  perfect,  the  knots  there.  Bruises  and  scars 
appear,  and  even  charred  places  where  fire  had  burned  the  tree  are 
distinct  and  perfect. 

It  is  an  extraordinary  and  most  impressive  sight.  When  and 
how  did  the  Almighty  .work  this  wonder?  Let  the  scientists  tell  if 
they  can. 

We  turned  and  walked  down  the  pleasant  path  with  the  gentle 
Swede  who  lives  alone.  But  he  told  us  he  had  sent  to  Sweden  for 
his  sister  to  come  and  live  with  him.  Last  year  he  had  two  thous-* 
and  visitors.  The  price  of  admission  is  fifty  cents  each.  Thus 
his  three  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  Government  land  is  turning  to 
good  account.  E.  D.  H. 


LETTER  XIV. 


Up   the   Sacramento   River-— -The  Town  of  Chico — Gen.  Bidwelf  s 

Model  Far?n. 


SACRAMENTO,   March  25,  1880. 

Having  gone  up  and  down  the  Sonoma  Valley  and  up  and  down 
the  Napa  Valley,  it  remained,  in  order  to  obtain  a  completed  view 
of  Northern  California,  to  make  the  tour  of  the  valley  of  the 
^Sacramento  River  as  far  as  Reading,  being  the  most  northern 
point  to  which  a  railroad  extends  on  the  way  to  Oregon,  a  dist- 
ance of  170  miles  from  here.  With  slight  exceptions,  all  the  rail- 
roads in  California  are  owned  and  operated,  by  the  Central  Pacific 
Company  or  by  the  same  parties  who  own  that  road.  I  will  here 
take  the  opportunity  to  say,  having  been  over  the  main  road 
and  several  of  its  branches,  that,  in  my  jugdment,  the  management 
is  to  be  classed  among  the  very  best.  The  road  bed  is  solid  and 
smooth.  Engines  large  and  of  superior  workmanship  and  in 
thorough  condition.  Cars  built  for  durability  and  service,  and 
well  appointed  for  the  comfort  of  travelers.  Particularly  has  the 
Central  inaugurated  a  car  with  an  admirable  sleeping  contrivance 
for  the  comfort  of  its  emigrant  passengers  ;  so,  that  this  class, 
traveling  at  about  half  price,  can  go  in  as  much  comfort  as  the 
first-class  passengers.  The  ferry  accommodations  for  crossing  the 
bay  from  Oakland  to  San  Francisco  are  unsurpassed  for  elegance, 
magnitude,  strength  and  dispatch,  by  anything  in  the  country. 

At  Sacramento  is  one  of  the  most  splendid  depots  and  eating 
houses  on  the  continent.  Cars,  engines,  depots,  work-shops, 
offices  and  eating-houses  are  all  kept  scrupulously  neat  and  clean. 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  7  7 

No  noise  or  confusion  in  any  direction  is  heard.  Every  officer, 
from  Mr.  Towne,  the  Superintendent,  down  to  the  brakeman  upon 
the  train,  is  polite,  reserved,  noiseless  and  strictly  devoted  to  his 
work. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  overgifts  or  the  undergifts  of  the 
people  through  the  appropriations  of  Congress  to  the  Pacific  Road, 
or  whatever  may  have  been  the  vices  or  the  virtues  of  the  "  Credit 
Mobelier" — certain  it  is,  that  a  splendid  highway  has  been  made 
across  the  deserts  and  through  the  mountains,  and  that  the  same  is 
conducted  in  the  interest  of  safety  and  comfort  to  the  great  travel- 
ing public. 

Before  speaking  of  our  trip  up  the  broad  valley  of  the  Sacra- 
mento River  I  must  say  something  of  the  city  of  Sacramento,  the 
capitol  of  the  State.  It  stands  here  upon  the  banks  of  the  river, 
on  a  low,  flat  piece  of  ground.  All  the  surrounding  country  is 
low,  and  it  has  often  been  overflowed  by  the  high  water  of  the 
river.  In  modern  times  they  have  filled  some  of  the  streets  to* a 
point  above  high  water,  and  the  railroad  company  in  co-operation 
with  the  city  authorities,  have  made  an  embankment  for  their  own 
protection  along  the  shore  of  the  river,  which  affords  substantial 
protection  against  the  overflow  of  the  city.  The  population  of 
the  city  is  put  at  25,000,  some  say  more.  The  sidewalks  are  made 
of  plank,  and  a  few  of  the  main  streets  are  paved  with  cobble 
stones.  There  are  some  pretty  good  buildings  of  brick  and  many 
low,  poor  buildings.  There  are  many  pretty  residences,  and 
some  quite  sumptuous.  Stanford  keeps  a  fine  house  here  and  so  do 
the  Crockers.  Judge  Crocker/ attorney  of  the  Central  Pacific  and 
one  of  the  smaller  stockholders,  now  deceased,  not  only  built  a 
fine  house,  but  also  a  picture  gallery  of  nearly  equal  size,  and  filled 
it  with  an  elegant  collection  of  rare  paintings  and  opened  it  to 
the  public. 

The  State  House  as  seen  from  the  front,  is  a  singularly  handsome 
structure  of  the  Corinthian  order  of  architecture.  But  seen  from 
the  side,  it  does  not  look  so  well.  The  dome,  which  is  superb,  is 
not  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  edifice,  but  nearer  the  front  than 
the  rear,  and  accordingly  the  symmetry  of  the  building  is  impaired 


78  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

when  seen  from  any  other  point  than  the  front.  In  the  Bibliotheke 
of  the  Vatican  at  Rome  the  visitor  will  see  Michael  Angelo's  ori- 
ginal draft  of  St.  Peter's,  and  will  observe  that  the  dome  is  placed 
in  the  centre  of  the  edifice,  the  form  of  the  building  being  that  of 
a  Greek  cross.  The  services  of  Raphael  being  called  in,  he  ex- 
tended the  choir  into  the  form  of  the  Latin  cross,  and  this  meet- 
ing the  .pontifical  approval,  the  building  was  so  constructed,  leav- 
ing the  dome  to  stand  in  the  centre  of  the  transcepts,  hence  the 
wonderful  dome  of  that  august  building  cuts  but  a  poor  figure  as 
it  is  approached  from  the  front.  It  appears  therefore  that  archi- 
tects, great  and  small,  come  short  of  perfection. 

When  \  first  approached  the  State  House  of  California  from  the 
front,  I  called  it  about  the  handsomest  building  I  had  ever  seen. 
But  seen  from  its  other  sides,  its  claim  for  that  opinion  has  to  be 
discounted  to  some  extent.  Still  it  is  an  elegant  edifice,  and  well 
suited  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  designed.  Its  cost  was 
$2,200,000. 

Gen.  John  Mansfield,  long  a  citizen  of  Kenosha,  in  our  State, 
is  the  Lieutenant  Governor  of  California,  and  presides  with  much 
dignity  and  to  great  acceptance  over  the  Senate.  He  extended 
cordial  attentions  during  my  several  visits  to  the  State  House. 
Here  I  found  that  ancient  warhorse  of  reform,  Warren  Chase,  so 
long  conspicuous  in  the  early  days  of  Wisconsin  politics.  He  is 
a  Senator.  Mr.  Chase  introduced  me  to  Gov,  Perkins ;  also  to  a 
brother  Senator  of  the  name  of  Watkins,  who  was  also  a  Wisconsin 
man,  being  from  Troy,  Walvvorth  Co.,  so  that  our  State  is  pretty 
well  represented  in  the  California  Senate.  Warren  Chase  is  67 
years  old,  and  is  looking  strong  and  well.  He  sends  his  warmest 
regards  to  our  worthy  fellow-citizen,  Hon.  C.  Latham  Sholes. 

The  Governor  of  California  ^Perkins)  is  a  fine  looking  .man  of 
40  years.  He  is  from  Maine,  and  began  life  as  a  merchant  and 
miner  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  and  removing  to  San 
Francisco  became  a  shipping  merchant  of  the  firm  of  Goodall, 
Perkins  &  Co.,  maintaining  a  line  of  steamers  to  Oregon  and  to 
Southern  California. 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  79 

Gov.  Perkins  is  spoken  of  in  high  terms.  The  members  of  the 
two  houses  appear  to  good  advantage  from  casual  observations. 
They  are  coping  with  some  grave  questions  under  the  new  Con- 
stitution, and  make  slow  progress.  Their  work  promises  to  be 
conservative  and  useful. 

In  conferring  about  my  journey  up  the  valley  of  the  Sacramento 
with  Lieut.  Mansfield  he  recommended  me  very  particularly  to  get 
off  at  Chico  and  view  the  beauty  of  that  place  and  its  surround- 
ings, and  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  Gen.  John  Bidwell,  one  of 
the  prominent  men  of  the  State  and  a  very  large  farmer  of  that 
locality.  We  came  to  Chico  as  the  night  set  in,  and  found  excel- 
lent quarters  in  the  spacious  Chico  Hotel.  Upon  coming  to  our 
apartment  I  sat  me  down  and  succumbed  to  a  feeling  of  sadness. 
Had  my  better  half  been  cross  and  cold  and  indifferent?  for 
women  will  sometimes  do  just  this  thing,  and  it  is  a  great  source 
and  just  cause  of  sadness.  No,  not  this.  Had  I  got  out  of  money 
in  a  far  distant  land,  with  nobody  at  hand  to  supply  that  most 
essential  article  in  travel  ?  No,  not  quite.  What  then  ?  Why  that 
old  sprain  of  my  left  ankle  had  come  back  to  worry  and  vex  me. 
It  had  for  some  days  been  scolding  and  complaining  that  I  had 
been  tramp,  tramp,  tramping  until  it  was  out  of  all  manner  of 
patience  and  would  stand  it  no  longer,  and  I  had  been  obliged 
that  day  to  go  and  find  a  crutch  and  put  it  to  use.  And  now  at 
the  end  of  a  long  and  wearisome  day  as  I  mused  that  some  of  the 
most  important  part  of  the  California  journey  was  yet  to  be  done, 
particularly  the  Yosemite  business,  and  it  might  have  to  be  done 
amid  deep  snows;  the  sadness  came  to  think,  that  under  such 
circumstances  my  good  left  foot  had  gone  back  on  me. 

In  the  morning  I  enclosed  the  card  of  introduction  in  a  note  to 
General  Bidwell,  in  which  I  intimated  that  I  was  not  swift  of  foot, 
and  that,  should  he  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  hotel,  I  wished 
he  would  come  and  see  me.  A  messenger  took  it  to  his  home. 
As  I  sat  alone  writing  in  the  ladies'  parlor  of  the  hotel  who  should 
enter  but  a  charmingly  dressed  lady,  bright  as  the  morning  sun, 
and  cheery  as  the  meadow  lark's  mating  song,  demanding  if  I  was 


80  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific, 

Mr.  Holton.  I  was  only  too  happy  in  such  a  presence  to  admit 
that  I  was.  Whereupon  she  announced  herself  to  be  Mrs.  Gen. 
Bidwell,  and  that  she  had  come  upon  the  commands  of  her  hus- 
band, who  was  obliged  to  join  a  party  of  surveyors  for  the  morn- 
ing, and  take  possession  of  me  and  mine  for  the  day.  We  must 
drive  with  her  during  the  morning  and  the  General  would  join  us 
at  dinner  by  3  P.  M.,  who  would  then  visit  and  drive  with  us  the 
balance  of  the  day. 

How  sweet  is  generous,  unselfish  hospitality !  We  were  the 
merest  strangers  to  these  folks.  The  most  I  had  expected  from 
Gen.  Mansfield's  pencil  card  of  introduction  was  an  exchange  of  a 
half  hour's  conversation  with  Gen.  Bidwell  upon  subjects  of  com- 
mon interest,  perhaps  giving  some  specialty  to  agriculture,  of 
which  he  is  a  leading  practitioner.  In  an  hour  Mrs.  Bidwell  came 
with  her  elegant  carriage  and  horses  and  for  three  hours  drove  us 
through  groves  of  spreading  oaks  along  the  banks  of  the  clear 
flowing  Chico  Creek,  by  which  the  native  grape  vines  hung  in  vast 
masses  as  they  climb  high  upon  the  oaks,  making  great  wide  cur- 
tains, entirely  shutting  out  the  sun.  And  now  we  are  passing  the 
cherry  orchard,  where  grow  thousands  of  great  trees  producing  in 
their  season  the  most  luscious  fruit  of  all  its  varieties;  and  now  the 
peach  orchard,  and  now  the  pears,  the  apricots  and  other  fruits. 
Passing  from  fields  where  the  wide-spreading  orchards  are  enclosed 
we  enter  the  enclosure  where  are  kept  the  diary  animals,  and  now 
where  are  kept  the  fattening  animals,  and  now  where  the  sheep  are 
herded,  and  now  where  are  the  horses.  These  fields  each  embrace 
hundreds  of  acres,  for  the  farm  has  twenty-two  thousand  acres  of 
as  handsome  land  as  lies  under  the  sun. 

Passing  from  the  above-enumerated  enclosures,  we  enter  the 
great  wheat  fields,  lying  in  bodies  of  from  five  hundred  to  a 
thousand  acres  each.  Finely  graded  roads  lead  through  these 
ramifying  grounds,  for  the  owner  is  a  man  of  scientific  precision. 
All  of  these  roads  are  laid  out  with  two  ideas  in  view — those  of 
utility  and  beauty.  The  road  is  now  curved  that  it  may  pass 
under  the  arching  branch  of  the  wide,  spreading  oak — for  some 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  81 

of  these  oaks  span  a  breadth  of  sixty  feet;  and  now  it  winds 
by  the  bank  of  the  brook,  that  the  song  of  its  babbling  waters 
may  add  to  the  charm  of  the  scene;  and  now  it  strikes  for  a 
mile  or  more  upon  a  dead  line  across  or  between  the  sweeping 
fields.  Gen.  Bidwell  would  be  a  marked  man  in  any  community. 
He  is  a  large,  well-made  man  of  sixty  years  of  age,  and  admirably 
preserved.  He  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  came  to  California 
with  Fremont  as  early  as  1841,  and  is  thus  well  versed  in  Cali- 
fornia affairs  under  Mexican  rule.  Indeed,  his  narration  of  facts 
of  that  period,  embracing  the  minutest  history  of  Capt.  Sutter, 
and  the  advent  of  the  Federal  Government  and  the  discovery  of 
gold,  was  like  the  letting  out  of  water,  and  I  charged  him  that  he 
"  write  a  book."  He  served  a  term  in  Congress  soon  after  the 
close  of  the  war,  and  should  have  been  made  the  Governor  of  the 
State,  as  he  was  clearly  the  choice  of  the  people.  But  he  is  a  man 
that  will  descend  to  none  of  the  tricks  of  the  politicians,  and 
because  he  would  not,  the  tricksters  of  the  party  beat  him  in  the 
convention  and  beat  themselves  before  the  people. 

If  one  man  is  to  be  the  possessor  of  so  large  a  body  of  land  as 
that  owned  by  this  gentleman,  it  is  refreshing  to  find  him  not  only 
a  good  manager  of  his  affairs,  but  to  find  him  a  man  of  broad 
public  spirit  and  generous  co-operation  in  all  good  measures.  His 
laying  out  of  the  little  city  of  Chico,  now  containing  five  thousand 
inhabitants,  shows  his  good  taste,. and  philanthropic  character,  in 
providing  schools,  churches  and  a  public  hall  of  large  dimensions. 
In  religious  profession,  Gen.  and  Mrs.  B.  are  Presbyterian,  and 
they  are  not  afraid  or  ashamed  to  be  known  as  such,  and  to  carry 
their  profession  into  practical  life. 

Beside  his  own  elegant  home,  seventeen  tenement  houses,  large 
barns  and  outbuildings,  warehouses,  a  fine  grist  mill,  capable  of 
turning  out  one  hundred  barrels  of  flour  per  day,  dot  his  extensive 
grounds.  Everything  about  his  premises  is  in  the  most  perfect 
order.  Gates,  fences,  roads  and  buildings,  as  well  as  fields,  com- 
mand your  admiration. 


82  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

But  enough.  The  refinement  and  elegance  of  the  inside  of  the 
house  was  in  proportion  to  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the  outside. 
What  concerns  your  humble  servant  most  is  how  he  will  ever  be 
able  to  requite  such  courtesies  as  he  has  received  at  the  hands  of 
these  and  other  kindred  souls  in  California. 

We  stopped  at  Marysville  and  drove  by  carriage  into  the  moun- 
tains to  visit  the  hydraulic  gold  mining  still  carried  on  in  that 
locality.  But  time  forbids  an  attempt  to  give  any  detail  of  that 
feature  of  California  industry  and  production.  'E.  D.  H. 


LETTER 


The  Great  Yosemite   Valley — Mariposa — Fremont — Mountains 
and   Waterfalls. 


SACRAMENTO,  March  27,  1880. 

Neither  at  San  Francisco  or  at  Sacramento  could  I  learn  any- 
thing definite  about  getting  into  the  Yosemite  Valley.  "  The  road 
is  not  open,"  was  the  common  answer,  "  and  the  snows  have  been 
so  deep  that  we  can  give  no  certain  information  as  to  when  it  is 
likely  that  the  trip  can  be  made." 

Three  wagon  roads  now  lead  into  the  Yosemite  Valley,  each 
departing  from  the  line  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad.  Two  of 
these  roads  leave  the  railroad  at  Merced,  152  miles  from  San  Fran- 
cisco, the  one  leading  on  a  more  northerly  route,  via  Coulterville, 
and  reaching  the  Yosemite  in  a  distance  of  something  a  little  less 
than  a  hundred  miles.  The  other,  taking  a  lower  and  more  south- 
erly route,  and  passing  Mariposa,  reaches  the  valley  in  a  distance 
of  ninety  miles.  The  third  route,  and  that  to  which  the  railroad 
influence  is  given,  and  to  which  the  most  formidable  of  the  stage 
companies  is  committed,  and  over  which  the  most  passengers  will 
be  likely  to  go,  leaves  the  railroad  at  Madera,  thirty-three  miles 
beyond  Merced,  and  going  by  Fresno  Flats,  the  Big  Tree  Station, 
and  Clark's,  reaches  the  valley  with  ninety  miles  of  stage  riding. 

One  of  the  chief  advantages  of  this  route  is  that  it  passes  the 
forest  of  big  trees,  and  thus  two  birds  are  killed  with  the  one  stone. 
But  this  road  goes  along  upon  mountain  heights  and,  at  this  writing, 
there  is  so  much  snow  that  it  cannot  be  passed. 

The  time  had  come  when,  if  we  visited  this  wondrous  exhibition 
of  the  Divine  Hand  in  His  work  of  creation,  we  must  go,  if  ever. 


84  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

A  gentleman  in  San  Francisco,  having  mining  interests  on  the 
route  and  well  versed  in  the  country,  had  informed  me  that  if  I 
left  the  middle  road  at  Mariposa  and  drove  by  carriage  to  Hite's 
Cove,  a  distance  of  twenty  miles,  I  would  then  find  an  open  trail 
that  would,  with  twenty-two  miles  of  horseback  riding,  take  us  to 
the  valley. 

This,  then,  I  found  to  be  the  only  route  by  which  at  this  season 
of  the  year  the  journey  could  be  made,  if  made  at  all.  Therefore 
we  made  our  way  to  Merced,  for  at  this  point  the  journey  must  be 
arranged  for  with  a  special  outfit.  Beside,  my  informant  could  not 
be  certain  that  heavy  snows  had  not  come  in,  and  that  mountain 
slides  had  not  occurred  to  suspend  passage  on  this  route. 

Upon  inquiry  at  Merced,  I  was  informed  that  John  McLenathan, 
an  old  livery  keeper  and  stage  man,  was  the  best  informed  person 
upon  the  subject,  and  best  qualified  to  conduct  the  expedition. 
To  John  McLenathan  came  I,  and  found  him  a  man  of  fifty  years 
of  age — his  hair  white  as  snow,  having  upon  him  the  marks  of 
sobriety,  good  sense  and  capacity.  In  other  words,  one  from 
whose  general  appearance  you  could  "tie  to,"  and  in  this  manner 
our  converse  began  : 

"Mr.  McLenathan,  have  you  ever  been  to  the  Yosemite  Val- 
ley?" "Yes,  sir,  many  and  many  a  time." 

"Is  it  your  opinion  that  a  lady  can  make  the  journey  at  the 
present  time?  "  "  One  route,  so  far  as  I  know,  is  open  by  which 
the  journey  can  be  made,  and  that  is  by  Hite's  Cove,  and  if  the 
lady  can  ride  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles  in  one  day  over  moun- 
tains and  along  precipices  and  other  exciting  and  dangerous  places 
upon  a  narrow  bridle  path,  the  journey  can  probably  be  made." 

"  Are  you  willing,  in  person,  to  undertake  the  journey?  "  "I 
am." 

The  woman  in  question  is  consulted,  and  she  agrees  to  make  the 
trial,  and  a  contract  is  made.  Two  horses  are  hitched  to  a  light 
two  seated  wagon,  into  which  two  of  our  saddles  and  light  baggage 
is  placed,  while  one  saddle  horse  is  led  behind,  and  we  are  off  from 
Merced  to  Mariposa,  the  termination  of  our  first  day's  drive.  The 
weather  looked  fine  as  we  started,  and  hopefully  drove  out  over  the 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  85 

level  plain  of  the  San  Joaquin  Valley  amid  wide-spreading  wheat 
fields,  all  crying  out  for  rain. 

Towards  noon  the  wind  began  to  rise  and  the  clouds  came  driv- 
ing in  from  the  south.     Before  reaching  our  dining  place,  the  wind 
was  furious  and  the  whole  heavens  were  surcharged  with  clouds  and 
dust.     We  hastened,  but  'ere  we  reached  the  hospice  at  Mariposa 
the  rain  came  down  in  torrents.       We  could  afford  to  put  up  with 
some  discomforts  for  the  great  blessing  that  the  rain  brought  to  the 
land.     Mr.  Schlageter,  a  very  intelligent  German,  long  resident  in 
California,  gave  us  every  attention  and  made  us  very  comfortable. 
He  was  proud  of  having  entertained   Senator  Trumbull,  and  said 
he  had  had  numbers  of  Milwaukee  people  as  guests  in  his  house, 
and   brought    forward   his  registers  for  me  to  look  over,  and  sure 
enough  I  ran  against  our  esteemed  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William 
E.  Cramer,   who  were  guests  with  him  April  30,  1877.       Beside, 
my   worthy   host,   to   show   conclusively  that   he   was   well-posted 
about   Milwaukee,   brought  forward  a  bottle  of  Milwaukee  beer. 
Our  host  entertained  me  long  and  well  with  the  life  and  times  of  Col. 
Fremont.    This  was  his  (Fremont's)  home.     This  was  the  seat  and 
centre,  as  it  is  still,  of  the  celebrated  "Mariposa  grant,"  containing 
some  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land,  and  is  said  to  embrace  some  of 
the  best  mineral  deposits  in  the  State.     The  little  village  bears  me- 
morials of  Fremont's  presence.     The  main  street  is  called   "John 
street,"   the   next  street    "Jessie  street,"  and   another  bears  the 
name  of  "Benton  street,"  in   memory  of  Col.  Benton,  the  father 
of  Jessie  Fremont.     It   is  many  years  since  Col.  Fremont  sold  his 
claim  for  $1,500,000.      It  is  now  in  litigation  and  scarcely  any 
mining  is  done  in  this  district,  and  the  town  is  dead. 

The  storm  had  expended  itself  during  the  night,  and  we  pushed 
our  journey  the  next  day  with  muddy  roads,  and,  as  we  came  further 
on  into  the  mountains,  encountering  snow  fields.  But  the  skies 
were  clear,  and,  as  we  slowly  came  on  towards  the  close  of  our 
second  day's  drive,  we  reached  the  brow  of  the  mountain,  which 
overlooked  the  tremendous  gorge,  at  the  bottom  of  which  flowed 
the  Western  branch  of  the  Merced  River  ;  and  in  which  lay  the 
little  mining  hamlet  sustaining  the  unpoetic  name  of  "Kite's 


86  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

Cove."  Travelers  going  into  the  valley  by  "Clark's,"  or  the 
southern  route,  have  many  exclamations  to  make  of  the  wonder- 
fulness  of  the  scene  when  they  first  behold  the  Yosemite  from  In- 
spiration Point.  But  while  we  did  not  have  that  joy,  neither  have 
they  beheld  the  wonders  of  "  Kite's  Cove."  I  at  once  admit  the 
unpoetic  character  of  the  name,  and  demand  a  change  to  match 
that  of  "Inspiration  Point,"  and  suggest  that  instead  of  Kite's 
Cove  it  be  called  "  Jove's  Thunder  Factory,"  or  "  The  Inverted 
Dome  of  the  Temple  of  Creation,"  or  some  other  suited  to  the 
glory  of  the  scenery.  In  passing,  let  me  say  that  Mr.  Kite,  who 
discovered  a  mine  at  this  point  sixteen  years  ago,  has  worked  it 
ever  since  wi|Ji  great  success,  and  is  now  realizing  $600  per  day 
above  expenses,  and  is  personally  and  steadily  attending  to  his 
business  day  by  day,  thus  adding  to  his  already  large  fortune. 

Having  had  to  put  up  with  the  poor  accommodations  of  a 
miner's  camp,  we  were  not  well  qualified  either  by  rest  or  food  for 
the  arduous  long  horseback  ride  of  the  third  day's  journey,  Still 
we  were  early  in  the  saddle  and  commenced  the  ascent  by  the  nar- 
row trail  up  a  steep  mountain  of  two  thousand  feet.  Our  horses 
were  true  and  good.  The  frost  had  been  sharp  over  night  and  the 
morning  air  was  crisp  and  cold,  imparting  great  exhilaration  as  up 
we  went  in  the  presence  of  the  morning  sun,  which  shone  directly 
upon  the  face  of  the  mountain  we  were  ascending.  McLenathan 
was  ahead,  while  your  humble  servant  brought  up  the  rear. 

Some  sources  of  concern  and  danger  attached  to  this  day's  ride 
aside  from  those  common  to  the  route.  We  were  the  first  party 
that  had  been  over  the  road  this  spring,  and  so  cold  and  wet  has 
the  winter  and  spring  been  that  little  opportunity  has  been  given 
for  the  embankments  to  become  dried  out  and  freed  from  danger 
of  sliding  as  the  weight  of  the  horses  came  upon  them. 

And  little  or  no  work  having  been  as  yet  done  on  the  trail, 
many  places  had,  by  the  action  of  detrition,  become  so  narrow 
that  there  was  but  just  room  for  the  horses'  feet  to  gain  a  footing  ; 
and  when  with  such  a  path  and  with  such  foundations  you  must 
pass  along  precipices  steep  down  hundreds  of  feet  into  yawning 
abysses,  the  strain  on  one's  nerves,  as  well  as  upon  muscle,  is  cal- 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  8  7 

culated  to  make  heavy  draft  upon  mortal  strength.  We  passed 
long  stretches  where  by  no  possibility  could  a  horse  turn  around 
or  the  rider  alight,  and  when,  if  the  horse  had  made  a  misstep,  both 
horse  and  rider  would  have  gone  to  destruction. 

We  had  been  misinformed  as  to  a  suitable  place  to  stop  for  our 
mid-day  rest  and  refreshment.  -We  found  only  the  house  of  a 
poor  old  Irish  woman,  who  had  living  with  her  an  Italian  and  a 
squaw  of  the  Digger  tribe  of  Indians.  True,  the  faint  (having 
unfortunately  taken  scarcely  any  breakfast)  and  weary  female  of 
the  party  could  lie  down  upon  the  good,  generous-hearted  old 
Irish  woman's  bed,  and  rest,  which  she  did,  and  could  we  then 
and  there  have  had  a  good  meal  of  suitable  food  with  a  good  cup 
of  coffee,  it  would  have  helped  immensely.  All  we  could  get  was 
a  piece  of  sour  bread.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  journey  was  a 
long  and  very  hard  one,  and  one  which  ordinarily  had  not  better 
be  undertaken  by  a  lady.  But  with  the  sour  bread,  two  apples, 
and  an  occasional  rest,  we  reached,  ere  the  sun  was  set,  the  most 
excellent  hotel  of  Mrs.  Leidig,  in  the  Yosemite  Valley,  the  first 
party  of  the  season  with  a  lady. 

This  valley  was  the  hiding  place  of  a  band  of  thieving  Digger 
Indians.  Somewhere  about  1851  or  1852,  a  military  expedition 
was  organized  to  pursue  these  mauraders,  and  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  chase  came  upon  this  remarkable  valley  and  were  the  first  to 
proclaim  its  existence.  More  and'  more  since  then  has  it  been  ad- 
vertised until  it  has  been  visited  now  by  many  thousand  persons, 
who  I  think  generally  concur  in  pronouncing  it  to  be  among 
the  remarkable  specimens  of  natural  curiosity.  BfeDttoft  Library 

The  valley  is  about  eight  miles  long  and  with  an  average  width 
of  about  one  mile.  It  is  level  and  smooth,  with  many  massive 
trees  of  oak,  pine  and  cedar  growing  upon  it.  In  the  midst  of  the 
valley  runs  the  Merced  River,  a  beautiful  stream  of  considerable 
size.  From  this  level  plain  of  the  valley,  which  itself  is  three  or 
four  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  rise  the  mountains  abruptly  and 
perpendicularly  3,000  feet  and  more  above  the  level  of  the  valley. 
The  chief  of  these  mountains,  "  El  Capitan,"  which  stands  upon 
the  north  side  of  the  valley,  has  a  face  of  a  mile,  more  or  less, 


88  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

long,  and  is  as  smooth  and  perfect  as  if  laid  up  by  King  Solomon's 
best  workmen.  The  other  mountains,  though  conjoined  and  con- 
stituting one  continuous  wall  around  the  circuit  of  the  valley,  and 
rise  with  nearly  equal  abruptness  and  height,  are  much  more  irregu- 
lar, and  stand  out  and  in  making  distinct  mountains,  suggesting 
names  as  the  "  Sentinel/'  the  "Three  Brothers,"  the  "Dome," 
etc, 

As  you  come  close  under  these  vast  heights  which  seem  to  hang 
over  you,  ready  to  fall  upon  you,  the  impression  is  one  of  awe  and 
fear  beyond  expression.  The  very  beautiful,  and  I  may  say  sub- 
lime, features  of  this  scenery  are  the  falls  of  water  which  descend 
from  these  heights  into  the  vale  below  and  make  up  the  Merced 
River.  Upon  the  left  hand  as  the  valley  is  entered  is  the  Ribbon 
Fall,  falling  3,300  feet.  Upon  the  right  hand  comes  a  fall  of  less 
altitude,  being  only  nine  hundred  feet  descent,  but  having  much 
greater  volume  of  water.  This  is  a  very  handsome  fall  and  goes  by 
the  name  of  the  "  Bridal  Veil."  Next  in  order  upon  the  left  hand 
comes  the  Yosemite  Fall.  This  at  this  season  of  the  year  when 
the  snows  are  melting  is  a  copious  stream  of  water  and  descends 
2,634  feet.  Sixteen  hundred  feet  of  this  fall  is  made  without  a  break, 
and  the  balance  is  nearly  perpendicular. 

We  ascended  the  mountain  which  projects  into  the  valley  some- 
what like  that,  over  which  this  cataract  pours,  a  distance  of  2,000 
feet,  where  the  beholder  is  direcfly  in  front  of  the  pure  white,  per- 
fect shaft  of  falling  water,  a  picture  unparalleled  for  beauty,  prob- 
ably, upon  the  earth's  surface.  ^Further  up  the  valley  and  at  its  ex- 
tremity upon  the  right  descends  the  Merced  River  proper,  creat- 
ing the  Vernal  and  Nevada  Falls.  The  latter  of  these  is  700  feet 
high.  There  is  much  snow  in  this  part  of  the  valley,  and  the 
guides  declared  we  could  not  reach  these  Falls.  Still  we  persisted 
and  reached  the  Vernal  which,  with  its  large  volume  of  water  now 
passing  from  the  melted  snow,  and  surrounded  as  it  is  with  the 
wildest  of  scenery,  well  repaid  the  effort. 

When  one  remembers  that  the  Falls  of  Niagara  are  but  157  feet 
high,  some  idea  is  gained  of  the  extraordinary  height  of  these 
cataracts.  The  longer  one  stands  in  the  presence  of  this  august 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  89 

scenery,  the  more  in  grandeur  and  interest  does  it  grow.  Two  days 
was  all  the  time  we  could  devote.  We  should  have  been  glad  to 
have  lingered  longer,  but  other  duties  beckoned  us  away. 

The  Federal  Government  has  conveyed  to  the  State  of  Califor- 
nia the  title  to  this  property,  as  well  as  that  upon  whicrrthe  forest  of 
"  Big  Trees  "  stands,  and  the  State  has  placed  the  same  in  charge 
of  a  Board  of  Commissioners  who  have  pnrchased  the  rights  of 
squatters  who  had  made  improvements,  paying  something  over 
$50,000  for  the  same,  and  are  making  permanent  improvements 
and  preserving  order  in  all  its  parts,  thus  affording  protection 
and  security  to  travelers.  It  must  ever  be  a  place  of  resort  to  all 
lovers  of  the  grand  and  beautiful.  E.  D.  H. 


LETTER  XV  1. 


A    Review — California    Under    a    Business  Cloud — The    Cause- 
Ralston — Denis  Kearney — TJie  American  Settlers — 
The  Chinese. 


SACRAMENTO,  March  28,  1880. 

From  one  end  of  the  State  to  the  other,  the  cry  of  "hard 
times"  comes  up,  from  every  quarter  and  from  all  classes.  It  is 
my  opinion  that  with  cash  in  hand  the  entire  real  estate  of  Cali- 
fornia can  be  purchased  to-day  for  just  one-half  that  it  could  have 
been  five  years  ago,  or  before  the  failure  of  the  Bank  of  Califor- 
nia. That  event,  to-wit  :  the  failure  of  that  bank,  was  the  first 
great  blow  to  the  abnormal  condition  of  things  which  then  existed, 
and  had  for  a  long  time  before,  in  this  State.  Wm.  C.  Ralston, 
the  head  and  front  of  that  institution,  was  a  self-made  man  of 
great  native  courage,  energy,  vast  endurance,  great  application 
with  dispatch  of  business,  generous  to  a  fault,  and  yet  unscrupu- 
lous, headstrong  and  wholly  unsound  in  morals.  For  years  he 
moved  in  the  zenith  of  business  influence  and  power.  He  claimed 
for  California  that  she  was  exceptionally  favored  in  all  natural 
endowments  of  wealth.  The  precious  metals,  according  to  his 
theory,  were  abundant  and  inexhaustible ;  the  climatic  forces,  for 
the  blessings  of  the  race,  without  a  parallel — the  land  yielding 
with  the  smallest  touch  of  industry  in  the  greatest  abundance  the 
most  precious  fruits,  the  great  sea  opening  fresh  virgin  markets  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth.  Therefore  magnify,  build  high,  build  broad, 
build  deep  and  long.  His  ear  and  his  hand  were  open  to  consider 
and  help  forward  any  reasonably  well  considered  scheme  that  had  for 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  91 

its  object  the  aggrandizement  of  California.  Had  he  combined 
with  his  many  good  qualities  that  of  high  moral  integrity,  which 
must  always  be  set  as  a  watch  dog  over  man's  lower  nature,  he 
might  have  proved  a  great  blessing  instead  of  a  curse  to  California. 
Too  many  of  the  bright,  smart  men  of  California  have  been  per- 
sonally immoral,  especially  in  the  direction  of  licentiousness.  An 
accomplished  and  experienced  woman  of  the  world  told  me  that 
Ralston  had  eighteen  wives  beside  his  lawful  wife.  Ralston  hav- 
ing used  the  funds  of  the  bank  wrongfully,  if  no't  criminally,  to 
carry  forward  his  grand  schemes,  until  its  five  millions  of  stock 
were  consumed,  was  removed  from  his  high  place,  and  the  same 
day  went  down  to  the  beach,  where  the  great  ocean  and  the  Bay 
of  San  Francisco  mingle  their  waters  at  the  Golden  Gate,  and 
drowned  himself,  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life ,  with  a  splendid 
physique,  and  with  more  friends  and  admirers  to-day  than  almost 
any  man  that  has  ever  lived  in  the  State. 

From  that  period  to  this  the  State  of  California  has  been  waning 
from  that  point  to  which  her  fancied  consequence  had  carried  her. 
Imperceptibly  at  first,  but  steadily  has  she  declined.  Her  mineral 
interests  had  been  magnified  by  stock  speculation  five  or  ten  times 
more  than  the  real  facts  and  condition  of  things  justified. 
Through  this  channel  came  vast  millions  from  London,  some  from 
Paris,  Berlin  and  Hamburg,  and  much  from  New  York.  These 
moneys  have  entered  into  the  great  mining  schemes,  not  only,  but 
into  other  vast  California  enterprises,  and  but  a  small  percentage, 
probably,  ever  got  back.  The  process  of  sending  money  here  for 
investment  as  in  those  gala  days  of  the  Ralston  era  has  gradually 
subsided  until  now  it  is  ended,  and  all  schemes  are  left  to  get  on 
as  best  they  can,  and  Californians  now  are  not  ashamed  to  wear 
old  clothes  and  talk  about  the  sober  virtues  of  economy  and 
frugality  j  and  hence,  if  I  judge  aright,  the  era  of  their  true  pros- 
perity is  now  to  begin,  and  will  go  forwaid  on  a  far  better  basis 
than  ever  betore.  But  she  has  some  difficulties  to  encounter  and 
surmount  ere  general  prosperity  will  be  established.  The  former 
free-and-easy  way  of  living  with  floods  of  money  to  be  had  on 
easy  terms  except  the  rates  of  interest,  which  were  always  enormous, 


* 


92  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

. 

led  the  whole  community  to  regard  being  in  debt  as  no  serious 
affair.  Hence]  nearly  everybody  is  in  debt.  Some  of  the  very 
best  men  in  the  State,  possessed  of  large  properties,  are  heavily  in- 
volved. Many'of  these  men  cannot  pay,  and  great  estates  are  upon 
the  market  on  every  hand.  This  is  true  of  country  and  landed 
estates,  as^well  as  city  properiy.  This  makes  room  for  a  new  class 
of  men,  with  moderate  means,  and  truer  ideas  of  business  pursuits 
to  come  in,  and  will  greatly  tend  to  magnify  the  country  popula- 
tion and  to  promote  the  agricultural  interest,  which  is  by  far  the 
higher  and  better  interest  of  the  State.  This  old  condition  of 
things  has  resulted  in  drawing  too  many  persons  into  the  city  and 
towns.  Particularly  is  San  Francisco  too  large  for  the  legitimate 
needs  of  the  State, — a  city  of  one  half  the  size  could  do  all  the 
business  that  properly  comes  to  her  door.  I  doubt  if  she  has  any 
more  real  legitimate  business  than  Milwaukee.  Certainly  if  the 
signs  hung  out,  "To  Let,"  are  any  token  of  an  overdone  con- 
dition, it  is  patent  in  San  Francisco.  Every  other  building  in  the 
city  seems  to  be  so  labeled.  Hence  the  Denis  Kearneys  and  his 
crowd  of  idle  men. 

By  the  way,  I  went  to  see  Denis  and  had  two  lengthy  conversa- 
tions with  him.  If  you  would  be  interested  to  know  about  the 
personnel  of  this  somewhat  noted  agitator,  let  me  say  that  he  is  a 
man  of  thirty-five  years  of  age,  well  preserved,  of  small  stature, 
and  very  modest  and  moderate  presence,  and  of  strictly  temper- 
ate habits.  He  dresses  plainly  in  dark  blue,  is  rather  dark  com- 
plexioned,  speaks  low  and  soft  in  private  conversation.  I  accom- 
panied him  to  the  Sand  Lots,  and  heard  him  deliver  one  of  his 
addresses  to  the -crowd  of  twenty-five  hundred,  who  stood  quietly 
and  decently  before  him.  His  address  was  written,  word  for  word, 
as,  he  told  me,  his  speeches  always  were  written.  His  voice  on 
the  platform  is  strong,  clear  and  effective.  He  speaks  with  delib- 
eration and  at  times  with  no  small  force. 

I  asked  Mr.  Kearney  what  was  to  be  the  outcome  of  all  this  agi- 
tation. He  replied  that  it  all  "looked  dark  to  him,"  and  in  a 
general  way  prophesied  some  fearful  revolution  in  affairs. 


*' 


From  Midland  to  the  Pacific.  93 

While  the  agitation  of  which  he  has  been  a  prominent  leader 
here  in  California  has  wrought  out  in  the  new  constitution  some 
new  and,  as  I  am  inclined  to  think,  useful  reforms,  there  its  use- 
fulness ended,  and  Denis  Kearney  should  have  gone  back  to  his 
dray  and  asked  his  friends  to  join  him,  and,  if  there  was  not 
employment  in  overdone  San  Fiancisco,  led  them  forth  on  to 
vacant  land,  of  which  there  are  millions  of  acres  lying  idle,  and 
gone  to  planting  and  reaping,  and  thus  had  bread  and  to  spare. 
Then  might  he  have  become  a  benefactor  as  well  as  an  agitator 
and  a  blessing  to  workingmen. 

I  endeavored  to  point  out  to  him  some  of  these  paths,  through, 
or  into  which,  he  might  lead  his  adherents  from  the  wilderness  of 
poverty  and  find  plentiful  reward  to  honest  industry.  But  he 
did  not  seem  to  take  any  interest  in  such  a  proposition — but 
chooses,  I  fear,  rather  to  stand  forth  as  a  somewhat  aimless  agita- 
tor. I  venture  to  prophesy  that  from  this  time  on  his  star  will 
wane.  That  his  tirade  against  the  Chinese,  against  capitalists  and 
corporations  has  been  somewhat  disastrous  I  make  no  doubt.  That 
it  has  sent  some  capital  away  and  deterred  some  from  coming  to 
California  is  doubtless  true.  But  that  is  not  California's  chief 
trouble  or  cause  of  her  present  depressed  condition.  Overtrading 
and  an  altogether  exaggerated  estimate  of  her  mineral  consequence, 
which  has  led  the  great  proportion  of  her  population  to  become 
speculators,  and  to  turn  aside  from,  or  rather  never  to  -have 
adopted  the  sober  walks  of  industry,  is  rather  to  be  credited  with 
the  evil. 

The  desire  to  become  suddenly  rich  has  overborne  all  the 
bounds  of  sound  discretion  and  wrecked  thousands  of  very  cap- 
able men,  and  they  stand  along  the  highway  of  life,  many  of  them 
in  grim  despair,  and  refuse  to  take  up  the  burden  of  manual  labor. 

It  was  an  extraordinary  vote  which  the  people  of  California  gave 
in  their  late  election  upon  the  Chinese  question.  Less  than  a 
thousand  votes  were  cast  in  their  favor.  And  yet  when  many  of 
those  who  voted  for  their  exclusion  are  pointed  to  the  industrious 
and  frugal  habits  of  these  people — to  their  temperate,  dignified 
and  respectable  behavior  as  a  whole,  to  the  productive  nature  of 


94  From  Midland  to  the  Pacific. 

their  labor — they  begin  to  apologize  for  their  act.  That  there  are 
some  evils  growing  out  of  the  presence  of  so  large  a  number  of 
alien  population  of  only  one  sex  is  evident  on  the  face  of  things, 
and  that  a  proper  national  regulation  of  the  question  is  probably 
advisable,  if  not  necessary. 

But  to-day  California  cannot  dispense  with  her  Chinese  popu- 
lation without  being  thrown  back  for  years  in  her  industrial  in- 
terests. No  Denis  Kearneys  will,  or  can,  supply  the  deficiency. 

California  possesses  in  her  climate  and  soil  unparalleled  sources 
of  human  comfort  and  welfare.  All  that  her  people  need  to  do  to 
secure  that  end  is  to  quit  stock  gambling  and  all  other  speculative 
pursuits,  and  go  to  honest  labor  in  the  mines  and,  more  especially, 
to  the  land.  Here  is  her  chief  wealth.  Let  her  Legislature  in- 
augurate a  system  of  irrigation,  which  is  perfectly  practicable,  and 
such  is  the  capacity  of  her  soil  and  the  preciousness  of  its  products 
that  the  time  would  be  brief  ere  the  song  of  comfort,  peace  and 
plenty  would  be  heard  in  all  her  borders. 

My  impression  is,  from  all  I  hear  after  my  three  months  sojourn, 
and  mingling  with  many  of  her  frank  and  generous  hearted  people, 
that  public  sentiment  is  crystalizing  into  a  conviction  that  sober 
industry  must  take  the  place  of  speculation ;  that  labor  must  sup- 
plant idleness,  knowledge  ignorance,  and  that  virtue  must  take 
the  place  of  vice.  These  conditions  accepted,  and  the  prosperty 
of  any  community  is  assured.  E.  D.  H. 


